A weekly reckoning with life in a warming world—and the fight to save it

Last week’s Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency was a blow to environmental advocates. In the 6–3 decision, the court said that the Obama administration’s interpretation of the Clean Air Act was wrong: The section of the act the EPA has relied on in planning to cap power plant emissions doesn’t actually grant the EPA that authority.

But if you haven’t read it yet, I’d like to direct your attention to Kate Aronoff’s follow-up piece. This ruling, she pointed out, could have been a lot worse. “Roberts doesn’t call into question the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide in general or even the best way to do that—even using other Clean Air Act provisions,” she wrote. As administrative and environmental law expert Jody Freeman told Kate, “There is, relatively speaking, a silver lining here.… What’s important is that clearly the EPA still has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases,” just not in the exact way the Obama administration was intending. 

That’s not to say this decision is good news. With greenhouse gas concentrations at record levels and federal climate legislation stalled, any delay in emissions regulation will drive irrevocable climate catastrophe down the line. And there’s ample reason for concern right now, as Kate emphasizes, given the other “challenges to the administrative state the majority opinion appears to invite.” But don’t despair just yet. 

We could all use a sliver of hope right now, and Apocalypse Soon doesn’t publish silver lining pieces all that often, so I’d encourage you to read this one. Maybe pair Kate’s piece with Liza Featherstone’s recent column on the role of joy in the environmental movement. Emphasizing the good feelings that environmentalism can engender doesn’t mean abandoning rigorous analysis or failing to hold bad actors accountable, she notes. But it could be a good strategy for political persuasion, as well as keeping despair and frustration at bay.

—Heather Souvaine Horn, deputy editor

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—Heather Souvaine Horn, deputy editor