Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law, agreed, adding that “regulations that affect significant swaths of the economy that are not explicitly authorized by Congress with very specific and clear statutory language, are especially vulnerable.”
Several state leaders on Thursday maintained that California would continue to lead the nation in setting its own rules to reduce emissions, affirming that the ruling would not impede the state’s efforts to combat climate change.
“Today’s ruling makes it even more imperative that California and other states succeed in our efforts to combat the climate crisis,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “California will remain the tentpole for this movement with record investments and aggressive policies to reduce pollution, to protect people from extreme weather, and to leave our children and grandchildren a world that’s better off than we found it.”
Attorney General Rob Bonta called the Supreme Court’s decision “misguided and gravely disappointing.”
“We are running out of time in the fight against climate change, and we need all levels of government working together to take action before it’s too late,” he said in a statement. “In California, we have strong programs in place to address climate change, and we will not go backwards. With the future of our planet at stake, our commitment to tackling the climate crisis cannot waver.”
