The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a key Clean Air Act case on Tuesday, with justices displaying mixed feelings about the balance of power between the Environmental Protection Agency and the states in regulating air pollution that drifts across state lines.
In the consolidated cases EPA v. EME Homer City Generation and American Lung Association v. EME Homer City Generation, several justices seemed ready to give the government leeway in setting standards and acting to reduce such pollution, while others were more sympathetic toward states that were left “completely in the dark” by the EPA’s handling of the issue over the years, as Texas Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell put it.
