A challenge by Oklahoma and eleven other Republican-led states to the Biden administration’s use of estimates for the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions in the issuance of regulations was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Court turned away the appeal and did so without explanation or any published dissent. As a result, the decision left intact a federal appeals court ruling that the states had not suffered any injury. Missouri filed the original challenge and Oklahoma and the other states joined the court case in 2021.
The states, led by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, contended the government does not have authority to consider the “social cost of carbon” in federal regulations.
Oklahoma and the other states claimed the costs will result in trillions of dollars in regulatory costs on the American economy every year.
“In practice, President Biden’s order directs federal agencies to use this enormous figure to justify an equally enormous expansion of federal regulatory power that will intrude into every aspect of Americans’ lives — from their cars to their refrigerators and homes, to their grocery and electric bills,” the suit charged.
The high court without explanation or any published dissent left intact a federal appeals court ruling that the Missouri-led group of states hadn’t suffered the type of concrete injury that would give them legal standing to sue.
The formulas created by the Biden administration are designed to guide government agencies as they consider the climate consequences of projects and consider the costs of new regulations. In the long run, the calculations challenged by Oklahoma, Missouri and the other states, could impact oil and gas leases in addition to regulations for agriculture, power plants and construction and fuel-efficiency standards.
The case is Missouri v. Biden, 22-1248.
The suit was filed after Biden launched his controversial decision on day one as President.
“On January 20, 2021, his first day in office, President Biden issued Executive Order 13990, “Protecting Public Health and the
Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis.” App. 51a, 86 Fed. Reg. 7037 (“EO 13990” or the “Executive
Order”). Section 5 of the Order, “Accounting for the Benefits of Reducing Climate Pollution,” instructed all federal agencies to
“capture the full costs of greenhouse gas emissions as accurately as possible, including by taking global damages into account.” App.
59a.”