The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, February 24, heard oral arguments in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency, regarding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greenhouse gas regulations. The court consolidated six separate petitions, which included the State of Texas’ challenge, and focused on one legal question – whether the agency “permissibly determined that its regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles triggered permitting requirements under the Clean Air Act for stationary sources that emit greenhouses gases.”
Legal analyst Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSblog said oral arguments indicated that Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has often been the swing vote in environmental cases before the high court and may likely be the deciding vote in this case, seemed inclined toward the EPA.
"The Environmental Protection Agency seemed close to being able to garner five Justices on its side," Denniston wrote. "The vote of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy loomed as the critical one, and that vote seemed inclined toward t he EPA, though with some doubt."
A ruling is expected by June.