SALT LAKE CITY — Hours after the Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday that limits how the anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, Utah leaders shared expressions of joy and anger.
By a 6-3 vote Thursday, with conservatives in the majority, the court said that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming.
Instead, the EPA is limited to plant-by-plant regulation, the high court said.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who was among those who challenged the EPA's authority, tweeted out the ruling through his official account.
The reaction from Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall was a far cry from those who support the decision.
"I’m sickened again by SCOTUS acting to undermine the well-being of the American people," Mendenhall posted to Twitter. "Carbon emissions affecting climate change is the most pressing global issue for governments to grapple with. This decision hurts us all today and our future even more."
The Clean Power Plan was first proposed by the Obama administration but never put into action as GOP-led states sued the administration to block it from going into effect. The plan was then repealed by the Trump administration, but the Biden administration wanted the undo President Donald Trump's repeal.
