Justice Scalia Strikes Back

Just when you think you have gotten out, they suck you back in again. That is how it felt after the giddy euphoria over homosexual marriage legalization fizzled, and Justice Anthony Scalia stuck it to environmentalists. He wrote a 5-4 majority decision striking down the first ever rules requiring power plants to cut mercury and other toxins from their air emissions. In Michigan v EPA Scalia wrote that EPA failed to consider industry costs before adopting the rules, however, he did not void the rules outright, but sent the case back to a lower court for further proceedings. The EPA estimated an annual cost to the utility sector of $9.6bn when it adopted the rules in 2012. The agency decided that because it was dealing with a known threat to public health, it did not need to consider costs when deciding whether to control toxic emissions from power plants. The Supreme majority disagreed with that interpretation of the statutory standard "appropriate and necessary". The regulations were drawn up under a separate statutory authority (§7412 of the Clean Air Act) from those proposed for carbon emissions by power plants, an important regulatory effort against global warming. One coal mining company, Murray Energy, has sued the EPA over the carbon rules. It said Monday's ruling indicates the EPA would not be able justify the carbon rules either since they "impose billions of dollars in costs, with no discernible environmental benefit whatsoever. Murray Energy's minions must be living on Planet Zero, where the climate is always nice and homosexual marriage is good for business.  Pass the wedding cake, please!