The U.S. Supreme Court has dealt a significant blow to California’s climate activists, with even one liberal justice aligning with the conservative faction to facilitate this outcome.
In a 7-2 decision, the court has allowed the state’s energy producers to proceed with their lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, challenging California’s stringent green energy mandates. Central to this case is the state’s stipulation that electric vehicles must dominate the market by 2035, which is part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s initiative to achieve “carbon neutrality” for California.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who authored the majority opinion, emphasized that these mandates are not only excessively forceful but may also be unlawful.
“The government generally may not target a business or industry through stringent and allegedly unlawful regulation, and then evade the resulting lawsuits by claiming that the targets of its regulation should be locked out of court as unaffected bystanders,” Kavanaugh stated. “In light of this Court’s precedents and the evidence before the Court of Appeals, the fuel producers established Article III standing to challenge EPA’s approval of the California regulations.”
