WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a Biden administration regulation aimed at limiting planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in place as legal challenges play out.
The justices rejected a push from Republican-led states and industry groups to block the Environmental Protection Agency rule, marking the third time this month the conservative majority has left an environmental regulation in place for now.
One justice, Clarence Thomas, publicly dissented.
Two other conservative justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, said in a brief order they thought the challengers would likely win on at least some of their claims eventually. But the rule doesn't need to be blocked now because compliance work wouldn't have to begin until June 2025 and the case could end up back before the high court relatively quickly, Kavanaugh wrote.
Justice Samuel Alito did not take part, likely due to his personal investment in one of the companies challenging the rule, Oklahoma Gas and Electric.
The rule requires many coal-fired power plants to capture 90% of their carbon emissions or shut down within eight years, though deadlines do not take effect for several years. The challengers argued that the EPA overstepped and imposed unattainable standards.
Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, said his group would continue to fight the rule. He said it would require power plants to use unaffordable technology or shut down at a time when the nation's electricity demand is forecast to double. “If this rule is allowed to stand the results for the American people and economy will be catastrophic,” he said,
The power industry is the nation’s second-largest contributor to climate change, and the rule is a key part of President Joe Biden’s pledge to eliminate carbon pollution from the electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide by 2050.
The Natural Resources Defense Council said the new standards are modest but vital, and the court’s decision to leave them in place is a win for common sense. “This warrants a sigh of relief from the millions of Americans experiencing the impact of the climate crisis,” said attorney Meredith Hankins. An appeals court had allowed the EPA’s new power plant rule to go into effect.
The Supreme Court earlier this month also left two other regulations aimed at reducing industry emissions of planet-warming methane and toxic mercury in place for now.
Other environmental regulations have not fared well before the conservative-majority court in recent years. In 2022, the justices limited the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants with a landmark decision. In June, the court halted the agency’s air-pollution-fighting “good neighbor” rule.
Another ruling in June, overturning a decades-old decision known colloquially as Chevron, is also expected to make environmental regulations more difficult to set and keep, along with other federal agency actions. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce cited that ruling in court papers supporting the challenge in the coal plant case.
Earlier Wednesday, the justices heard arguments in another environmental case that could limit the EPA’s ability to enforce clean water standards. The case involves an unusual dispute between the agency and liberal San Francisco over what the city says are impossibly vague rules for the discharge of untreated sewage into San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The city could face fines of between $10 million, in the Biden administration’s view, to $10 billion, in San Francisco’s estimation. The court seemed divided with several conservative justices appearing favorable to San Francisco.
A panel of three judges — two nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama and one by Republican President Donald Trump — found that the states were not at risk of immediate harm because compliance deadlines do not take effect until 2030 or 2032.
The EPA projects the rule would yield up to $370 billion in climate and health net benefits and avoid nearly 1.4 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047, equivalent to preventing annual emissions of 328 million gasoline-powered cars.
Associated Press writers Mark Sherman and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
The Supreme Court is seen on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Supreme Court allows a rule limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in effect
Supreme Court allows a rule limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in effect
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. Find the AP’s top photos of the day in Today’s Photo Collection. For up-to-the-minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan in AP Newsroom.
Time is running short to join our exclusive U.S. election webinars! Click here to join the AP Customer Zone group “You’re Invited” to register for our webinar series that will help your newsroom prepare for the General Election. You also can view recordings of other election webinars, as well as recordings of our ongoing series.
——————————-
NEW/DEVELOPING
——————————--
ELECTION-2024; ELECTION 2024-TRUMP-HARRIS; ELECTION 2024-TRANSITION; ELECTION 2024-INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS; ELECTION 2024-FOX NEWS; ITALY-SURROGACY BAN; TEXAS EXECUTION; HIV TRANSPLANT; DC-PANDAS; GROWLER CRASH-NAVY; JIMMY CARTER-VOTING; SUPREME COURT-POWER PLANTS; TRUMP-CAPITOL RIOT; ELECTION 2024-INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS; ETHEL KENNEDY MEMORIAL; CALIFORNIA-MENENDEZ-BROTHERS-CASE; JOURNALIST KILLED-LAS VEGAS; CANADA-INDIA; LETTERS OF INTENT; WOMEN’S SPORTS FOUNDATION-AT 50; OBIT-LIAM PAYNE; MEXICAN SECURITY CHIEF-SENTENCING.
——————————
ONLY ON AP
——————————
CANADA EUTHANASIA-DOCTORS AND ETHICS — A homeless man refusing long-term care, a woman with severe obesity, grieving widows. Each euthanasia request sparked debate among Canadian doctors and nurses struggling with the ethics of one of the most permissive laws globally on the practice. That’s according to forum messages provided to The Associated Press by a participant on condition of anonymity due to confidentiality. By Maria Cheng and Angie Wang. SENT: 2,280 words, photos. With CANADA-EUTHANASIA-DOCTORS-AND-ETHICS-TAKEAWAYS.
——————————
TOP STORIES
——————————
ELECTION-2024 — Kamala Harris urged Republican voters to put “country first” and abandon Donald Trump. Trump addresses Latino voters, defending his call for mass deportation of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally even as he nods to a need for immigrant labor. By Will Weissert, Adriana Gomez Licon and Thomas Beaumont. SENT: 530 words, photos. With ELECTION 2024-TRUMP-HARRIS — Trump offers an uncharacteristic compliment to Harris, noting her ability to “survive” — though it comes with a subtle jab; ELECTION 2024-TRANSITION — Harris and Trump are running markedly different transition efforts; ELECTION-2024-THE-LATEST; Find a selection of election related photos in the AP Newsroom. Also see ELECTION 2024-INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS and ELECTION 2024-FOX NEWS below.
MIDEAST-WARS — Israeli airstrikes pounded areas across Lebanon, killing at least 27 people over the past 24 hours, officials said, including more than a dozen in a southern town where Israeli bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory. By Mohammad Zaatari, Kareem Chehayeb and Sally Abou Aljoud. SENT: 1,220 words, photos, video, audio. With MIDEAST-WARS-THE-LATEST
ITALY-SURROGACY BAN — Italy criminalized citizens who go abroad to have children through surrogacy, a measure slammed by opponents as “medieval” and discriminatory to same-sex couples. By Giada Zampano and Paolo Santalucia. SENT: 360 words, photo.
TEXAS EXECUTION — The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a request for clemency for a man who this week could be the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. By Juan A. Lozano. SENT: 880 words, photo. With SHAKEN BABY CASES-WHAT-TO-KNOW — What to know about shaken baby syndrome.
HIV TRANSPLANT — People with HIV can safely receive donated kidneys from deceased donors with HIV, according to a large study that comes as the U.S. government is on the verge of expanding the practice — a move that could shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status. By Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson. SENT: 560 words, photos.
GENDER-WAGE-GAP — The first widening of the gender wage in 20 years is the latest indication that many women have paid a price for leaving the workforce at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, either because they lost their jobs or because they quit because of caretaking responsibilities. But the finding in a recent Census Bureau report captures a complicated moment for women in the post-pandemic recovery, and not all the news is bad. By Business Writers Alexandra Olson and Claire Savage. SENT: 1,230 words, photos, audio.
——————————————————
SPOTLIGHTING VOICES
——————————————————
CONGO-MENTAL HEALTH — Years of conflict in eastern Congo have created a dire mental health crisis. Aid groups say the number of people seeking care has spiked as fighting intensifies. Some of the worst affected struggle to survive in cramped, violent displacement sites that aren’t conducive to recovery. By Sam Mednick and Ruth Alonga. SENT: 1,110 words, photos, video.
———————————
MORE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
———————————
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-VICTORY-PLAN — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told lawmakers that Ukraine’s Western partners are increasing pressure to negotiate with Russia, but he hinted such talks would be unfavorable to Kyiv as he unveiled what he called his “victory plan” for the war. SENT: 1,010 words, photos, audio.
——————————-
MORE NEWS
——————————-
DC-PANDAS — D.C.’s newest power couple, pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao, are settling into their new home at the National Zoo. SENT: 760 words, photos.
GROWLER CRASH-NAVY — U.S. Navy fighter jet with two on board crashes during training in Washington state. SENT: 390 words, photos, audio.
JIMMY CARTER-VOTING — Jimmy Carter, at age 100, casts his 2024 ballot by mail. SENT: 250 words, photos.
——————————————————
WASHINGTON/POLITICS
——————————————————
ELECTION-2024-TRUMP-AGE — If he wins next month’s election, Donald Trump would be the oldest person in U.S. history elected president. Yet the 78-year-old Republican nominee is refusing to disclose new details about his physical or mental well-being, breaking decades of precedent. SENT: 1,600 words, photos. An abridged version of 980 words is also available.
SUPREME COURT-POWER PLANTS — The Supreme Court allows a Biden administration rule aimed at limiting planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in place as legal challenges play out. SENT: 530 words, photo.
TRUMP-CAPITOL RIOT — The federal judge overseeing the election interference case against Donald Trump directs prosecutors to provide the former president’s lawyers any Justice Department information related to a separate investigation into Mike Pence’s handling of classified documents. SENT: 610 words, photos.
ELECTION 2024-INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump embark on an interview blitz that offered new details about their policy priorities and their political strategies. SENT: 810 words, photos. With ELECTION 2024-FOX NEWS — Harris brings her campaign to Fox News Channel, a place many Democrats have long considered enemy territory.
ETHEL KENNEDY MEMORIAL — President Joe Biden caps a memorial service for Ethel Kennedy by recalling the wife of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy as “a hero in her own right.” Biden was joined by former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in speaking at the memorial service. SENT: 910 words, photos.
————————
NATIONAL
————————
MEXICAN SECURITY CHIEF-SENTENCING — The man once heralded as the architect of Mexico’s war on drug cartels was sentenced to more than 38 years in a U.S. prison for taking massive bribes to aid drug traffickers. SENT: 710 words, photo.
CALIFORNIA-MENENDEZ-BROTHERS-CASE — More than a dozen family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez made an emotional call for their release from prison, saying they were “brutalized” and sexually abused by their father and then “vilified” by a society that was not ready to hear that boys could be raped. SENT: 900 words, photos, audio.
JOURNALIST KILLED-LAS VEGAS — A former Las Vegas-area Democratic elected official was sentenced to serve at least 28 years in Nevada state prison for killing an investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of his conduct in office two years ago and exposed an intimate relationship with a female coworker. SENT: 890 words, photos, audio.
EDUCATION-HURRICANES — Tens of thousands of students in the Southeast are dealing with school disruptions after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc so severe — on homes, campuses and municipal power and water systems — that some districts have no idea when they will reopen. By Education Writers Jocelyn Gecker, Moriah Balingit and Michael Melia. SENT: 1,080 words, photos, audio. With HURRICANE-RECOVERY-FUNDING — Federal money to help states hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton nears $2 billion.
————————————
INTERNATIONAL
————————————
CANADA-INDIA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada’s national police force went public with its allegations against Indian diplomats this week because it had to disrupt violent acts in Canada including drive-by-shootings, extortions and even murder. SENT: 720 words, photos, video.
NIGERIA-TANKER-EXPLOSION — More than 140 people, including children, were killed in Nigeria when an overturned gasoline tanker truck exploded in flames while they tried to scoop up fuel, emergency services said. Dozens more were injured. SENT: 350 words, photos, audio.
———————————————
HEALTH & SCIENCE
———————————————-
CLIMATE-COSTLY-HURRICANES — Monstrous hurricanes Helene and Milton caused so much complex havoc that damages are still being added up, but government and private experts say they will likely join the infamous ranks of Katrina, Sandy and Harvey as super costly $50-billion-plus killers. By Science Writer Seth Borenstein. SENT: 1,060 words, photos, video.
——————————————
ENTERTAINMENT
—————————————-
OBIT-LIAM PAYNE — Former One Direction singer Liam Payne, 31, was found dead after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, local officials told Argentine media. SENT: 100 words, photo. UPCOMING: Developing, will be updated, video.
——————
SPORTS
——————
LETTERS OF INTENT — The time-honored tradition of high school athletes proudly sitting behind a table and signing a national letter of intent is a thing of the past. In its place starting in a matter of weeks, athletes will ink their name to something different — a financial aid package that will likely be tied to a revenue-sharing contract. By National Writer Eddie Pells. SENT: 1,210 words, photos.
WOMEN’S SPORTS FOUNDATION-AT 50 — Billie Jean King started the Women’s Sports Foundation with a $5,000 check. She’s turned that investment into $100 million and a half century of helping girls and women achieve their dreams through travel and training grants, local sports programs and mentoring athletes and coaches. By Sports Writer Melissa Murphy. SENT: 860 words, photos.
——————————————
HOW TO REACH US
——————————————
At the Nerve Center, Jerome Minerva can be reached at 800-845-8450, ext. 1600. For photos, ext. 1900. For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.
A man rides a bicycle in front of a banner reading: "A rape is a rape," in Avignon, southern France, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)
Forgiato Blow wears a necklace with a likeness of former President Donald Trump before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Tyra Banks walks the runway during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Ineos Britannia crosses the finish line as they win the race 5 of the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Day 4, in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
