In a historic 6-3 Supreme Court decision, Chevron Deference was overturned by Loper Bright v. Raimondo. This overturned 40 years of precedent in how far a government agency can extend its reach and authority. Critics of the decision claim it’s a catastrophic defeat for environmental policy and a massive loss in the fight against climate change. This is beyond hyperbole.
The Loper Bright ruling is a win for the environment, a chance to promote American innovation through deregulation, a chance to prevent policy flip-flopping between presidential cycles, and—most importantly—a way to provide much—needed pressure on Congress to protect the environment.
Some commentary on the Loper Bright decision includes fear-mongering, such as “the Supreme Court puts our health, environment and lives at risk” and the absurd claim that “U.S. fisheries could be devastated.”
Interestingly, the reason Loper Bright was brought to court was to prevent U.S. fisheries from going out of business due to overregulation.
More ironically, when Chevron Deference was decided, it was seen as “a victory for the Reagan administration and a loss for environmental groups.” It is wild how the tables have turned.
Chevron Deference harmed the environment through bloated mission creep. We can see how devastating Environmental Protection Agency policies are for the environment, as evidenced by how long it takes to permit solar farms, wind turbines or even nuclear power plants (an energy source that is carbon neutral!)
According to a report from C3 Solutions, “It is much more plausible to reason that the antiquated regulations and policies have artificially inflated the cost of new nuclear power, inhibiting economic and environmental progress.”
The list of EPA regulations that have overstepped congressionally mandated definitions AND been bad for the environment is numerous. However, one regulation recently approved requires coal plants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040. This is beyond ambitious; it is dangerous for the environment.
The rule is “based on the use of carbon capture — an available and cost-effective control technology.” Yet carbon capture technology is neither cost-effective nor widely available. This rule will lead to most coal plants closing to avoid complying with the regulations.
Some coal plants are already in the process of being retired and converted into nuclear plants.
The most significant barrier to converting more coal plants into nuclear reactors is that coal plants give off 10 times the amount of radiation as nuclear energy plants (which is above the current regulations for nuclear plant emissions standards). Intentionally or not, these new rules incentivize most, if not all, coal plants to close before the regulation goes into effect, meaning they are not incentivized to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (because why would they if they are being forced to close?) If coal companies retire plants early because of over-regulation, we may never see the conversion of these plants to nuclear power facilities.
Limiting the scope of government agencies could lead to a greener planet. During the Trump administration, greenhouse gas emissions fell 5 percent. Amazingly, this reduction in carbon emissions was more than the Obama administration’s, which saw a greenhouse gas emission increase.
Deregulating the market allowed for more innovation — something we desperately need in the energy sector if we are going to combat climate change. Perhaps this is why the Trump campaign leaked talking points on his environmental record before the first presidential debate.
By reducing the scope of the EPA back to its legislatively appointed boundaries, we will see less whiplash between administrations. Changing environmental policy like the wind harms innovation. Only large companies with massive lobbying capacities can withstand the nauseating shift in direction every four years.
Overturning Chevron Deference is a win for American innovation as all eyes turn to Congress to make decisions. There are so many non-invasive, low-regulation, market-based proposals before Congress, most notably the suggestions from the Climate and Freedom proposals.
Don’t believe the doom-and-gloom lies about overturning Chevron. Loper Bright is the light of hope we all need. Overturning the Chevron Deference is a win for the environment, a win for the American people and a win for Congress as it finally feels pressure to do its job.
