Supreme Court to review EPA authority to regulate power sector emissions

The Supreme Court said Friday it would take up a case brought by Republican states and coal companies to determine the extent to which the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate the greenhouse gases emitted by power plants.

The court consolidated four separate petitions, led by West Virginia, North Dakota, Westmoreland Mining Holdings, and the North American Coal Corporation, to address the question of whether the EPA has the authority to promulgate regulations enforcing nationwide “performance standards,” provided for in the Clean Air Act, at a generation-sector-wide level.