The judges of the highest court in the United States decided, by five votes in favor and four against, to suspend the application of the so-called “good neighbor” plan.
The conservative-majority Supreme Court of the United States of America (US) on Thursday dealt a setback to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by suspending the implementation of a plan to combat air pollution.
The justices of the highest court in the United States voted 5 to 4 to suspend the application of the so-called “good neighbor” plan, which aims to combat air pollution that passes from one state to another, until a dispute is resolved in an appeals court.
“The applicability of EPA’s plan to plaintiffs should be stayed until their requests for review are decided” by an appeals court in Washington, the Supreme Court said in its opinion.
The decision was made by a majority of five conservative judges against three progressives.who were joined by conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett.
According to the EPA, the plan should reduce the smog (air pollution), which is harmful to health, but can also have “economic advantages”.
But the regulation was challenged in court by three Republican-governed states (Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana) supported by the metal and coal industries.
Under a US air pollution law, federal states are responsible for regulating low-altitude ozone pollution, but the Environmental Protection Agency can reject them or force them to change their plans and establish common standards.
“Today’s decision is damaging not only to communities that breathe polluted air, but to democracy itself,” said Holly Bender of the environmental advocacy group Sierra Club, condemning the fact that the Supreme Court “has sided with polluters and industry.”
In recent years, President Joe Biden’s administration has attempted to reinstate air pollution legislation abolished by his White House predecessor, Donald Trump (2017-2021).
Source: Observadora
