The New York Times recently reported that four conservative operatives spent the Biden years quietly building the legal and regulatory infrastructure to kill the federal government's ability to fight climate change. Russell Vought. Jeffrey Clark. Mandy Gunasekara. Jonathan Brightbill. They drafted executive orders. They got Heritage Foundation money. They solicited white papers from friendly scientists. They built the whole thing in secret so nobody could stop them before it was done.
The Supreme Court is expected to get a chance to take a second look at a landmark 2007 decision that paved the way for federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, power plants, and other sources. But this time, legal scholars say, a shift in the makeup of the court may lead to a much different outcome, one that could have far-reaching implications for the nation's battle against climate change.