WASHINGTON – In freezing President Barack Obama’s plan to tackle carbon emissions, the US Supreme Court delivered a blow to a global climate deal – but experts say that US commitments to the deal will survive.
Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” would require the power sector to cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least 32 percent compared to 2005 levels by the year 2030.
The high court’s surprise decision unleashed a wave of concern around the world.
“For a vulnerable country like India, it is important that the Paris Agreement leads to ever more ambitious actions by all countries,” said Navroz Dubash of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, referring to the global climate deal.
“From that perspective, this early indication from the US Supreme Court risks taking us in the wrong direction.”
The court “threw an unexpected monkey wrench into the Obama administration’s plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants,” said Union of Concerned Scientists president Ken Kimmell.
However, Kimmell told AFP, “it would be quite premature to conclude that is a blow to the Paris Agreement.”
The freeze will only last about 18 months—until a legal challenge by a coalition of 27 mostly Republican states is heard—and Obama himself has said he is confident the White House is on “strong legal footing.”
The Environmental Protection Agency gave US states individual greenhouse gas emission targets, but they have until 2022 to comply, which Kimmell noted was a “very long” timeline.
“The immediate effect of the ruling is to push back the deadline for our states to submit implementation plans, but this delay does not necessarily imperil the United States’ meeting its 2030 target,” said Scott Fulton, president of the Environmental Law Institute.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey echoed fellow Republicans when he hailed the “historic and unprecedented victory against (the) EPA,” backed by the five conservative justices of the nine-seat court.
But climate experts note that the Supreme Court did not rule on the substance of the Clean Power Act, sending the matter back to an appeals court that will probably rule in June.
Other lower courts will also make related decisions.
http://www.mb.com.ph/
Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” would require the power sector to cut carbon dioxide emissions by at least 32 percent compared to 2005 levels by the year 2030.
The high court’s surprise decision unleashed a wave of concern around the world.
“For a vulnerable country like India, it is important that the Paris Agreement leads to ever more ambitious actions by all countries,” said Navroz Dubash of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, referring to the global climate deal.
“From that perspective, this early indication from the US Supreme Court risks taking us in the wrong direction.”
The court “threw an unexpected monkey wrench into the Obama administration’s plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants,” said Union of Concerned Scientists president Ken Kimmell.
However, Kimmell told AFP, “it would be quite premature to conclude that is a blow to the Paris Agreement.”
The freeze will only last about 18 months—until a legal challenge by a coalition of 27 mostly Republican states is heard—and Obama himself has said he is confident the White House is on “strong legal footing.”
The Environmental Protection Agency gave US states individual greenhouse gas emission targets, but they have until 2022 to comply, which Kimmell noted was a “very long” timeline.
“The immediate effect of the ruling is to push back the deadline for our states to submit implementation plans, but this delay does not necessarily imperil the United States’ meeting its 2030 target,” said Scott Fulton, president of the Environmental Law Institute.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey echoed fellow Republicans when he hailed the “historic and unprecedented victory against (the) EPA,” backed by the five conservative justices of the nine-seat court.
But climate experts note that the Supreme Court did not rule on the substance of the Clean Power Act, sending the matter back to an appeals court that will probably rule in June.
Other lower courts will also make related decisions.
http://www.mb.com.ph/
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