I’m still thinking about the recent round of decisions put forth by the Supreme Court. The Court exists to make sure that the laws adhere to the constitution and give all the citizens of the United States the best possible life. Unfortunately, the conservative supermajority in the court is currently using the position to force a set of beliefs upon the country. That’s not their job; these actions create an inequitable and ultimately harmful set of laws, and it’s an abuse of their power.
On June 30, 2022, the Supreme Court deemed it unlawful for the Environmental Protection Agency to restrict the amount of pollution that power plants can emit. This is a blatant denial of the danger poised by Global Warming, which will have unfathomable consequences on us all. It will put money in the pockets of the large corporations burning fossil fuels while the rest of us cook under increasingly hot temperatures. The priorities of the Supreme Court supermajority are infuriating and dangerous; we are all going to feel the impact of this.
In reflecting on this ruling, I felt the need to say something, so I wrote “A Sensible Solution.” I tried to put my thoughts into sound, but since instrumental music is up for interpretation, I included some text in the video. The full text is below.
Chief Justice John Roberts called a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity a sensible solution . . .
And indeed it was.
Unfortunately, on June 30, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot regulate how much pollution power plants emit, destroying that sensible solution.
Speaking in support of the ruling, Roberts said, “Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day,”
With that one statement, Roberts minimalized global warming into the crisis of the day.
Unfortunately, Roberts is wrong.
Hurricanes are getting more intense, sea levels are rising, and storms are devastated people’s lives, all due to global warming.
Due to climate change, the number of large fires in the western United States DOUBLED between 1984 & 2015.
Droughts have become common and are getting increasingly worse, effecting the availability of drinking water, the ability to grow crops, water based transportation and energy creation, not to mention overall public health.
Global Warming is the crisis of our lifetime Mr. Roberts, not a fleeting worry.
In the second part of his statement, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “But it is not plausible that Congress gave the EPA the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme … A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body.”
Here Roberts accuses the Environmental Protection Agency of creating a regulatory scheme.
In this statement he trivializes the work of a government body, dedicated to “protect human health and the environment.”
He paints this piece of our government as cheap thugs, manipulating our system at the expense of the American people.
Yet, the EPA uses science to make policies that protect our planet, enriching the lives of the the U.S. population, and people around the world.
The only thugs at play here are the corporations who are paying lobbyists to promote these changes so that they don’t have any changes to their bottom lines.
Associate Justice Elena Kagan wrote in response to the ruling, “Whatever else this Court may know about, it does not have a clue about how to address climate change,”
I agree with Justice Kagan here. The Supreme Court does NOT know how to address climate change. The experts at the EPA – the very organization that the court is limiting – DO know how to address climate change.
Kagan continued, “The Court appoints itself — instead of Congress or the expert agency — the decision maker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.”
Once again, I agree with Justice Kagan. This is an absurd abuse of power from the Supreme Court, where they simply use their power to assert their beliefs at the expense of the U.S. population.
This is NOT a sensible solution.
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