Padilla Statement on Supreme Court Decision Denying EPA’s Authority to Combat Climate Change
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary and Environment and Public Works committees, released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision today in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency:
“With today’s Supreme Court decision, six radical justices once again adopted the preferred policy position of the Republican Party, this time in order to hobble the federal government’s ability to meaningfully address the existential threat of climate change under the Clean Air Act. Their decision not only puts Americans’ health and our planet’s future at risk, but could broadly jeopardize the federal government’s ability to regulate in any number of areas.
“Clearly, the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority no longer feels bound by precedent, Congressional intent, or even scientific facts if it stands in the way of their extreme agenda. This case is yet another example—following in the wake of decisions striking down the right to an abortion, expanding access to guns, denying Tribal sovereignty, and more. The federal climate policy that the Court purports to strike down was never implemented. But the Court went out of its way to evaluate and strike it down anyway, in order to allow their right-wing majority to impose their political agenda on the American people.
“Congress and the President must act to blunt the impact of this Supreme Court’s extreme rulings. Unless we provide a check on this Court, the crisis of legitimacy caused by its rulings will continue to grow and faith in our democracy will suffer.”
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