Mass Audubon Statement on Today’s Devastating Supreme Court Decision in West Virginia v. EPA

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v EPA now sharply curtails the EPA’s ability to regulate climate inducing pollution under the Clean Air Act. This is a disastrous decision, and makes it clearer than ever that we need Congress to act on climate,” explains David J. O’Neill, President, Mass Audubon.

In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts vs. EPA that the Clean Air Act enables the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to place limits on greenhouse gas emissions because these pollutants are clearly harmful to public health and the environment. This critical ruling signaled to the world that the U.S. had the legal foundation to begin regulating climate pollutants, whose negative effects compound with each passing day of inaction on climate by our federal government.

The Massachusetts state legislature has set the course: through the groundbreaking Next Generation Climate Roadmap law, Massachusetts requires climate action in each sector of the economy. Congress needs to follow suit, by immediately passing climate legislation that catalyzes meaningful and effective climate solutions.

Mass Audubon and its supporters will organize, mobilize, and fight in Washington, on Beacon Hill, and in every corner of the state to ensure a clean and prosperous future is within our grasp.