Supreme Court’s conservative majority blocks another Biden administration environmental rule limiting air pollution in ‘upwind states.’
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked an interstate air quality rule issued last year by the Biden administration to limit ozone that comes from power plants and industrial sites in the Midwest and sends polluted air drifting toward the East Coast.
The vote was 5-4, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberals in dissent.
The so-called “good neighbor” rule is part of the Clean Air Act, and the Environmental Protection Agency says it ensures that sources of air pollution in “upwind states” must take steps to reduce it if it is “affecting air quality in downwind states.”
In its latest update, the EPA targeted 23 states for more stringent regulation, including California in part.
But before the rule could take effect, it was caught up in legal battle between the Republican-led states and the Democratic administration.
