By Kristen Walker, American Consumer Institute
In a 6-3 decision the Supreme Court recently overturned a 40-year ruling commonly known as the Chevron doctrine, which basically gives federal agencies latitude in interpreting ambiguous laws.
There’s a general belief among many in Washington that elected officials and bureaucrats know what’s best for everyone and should therefore be granted unfettered rulemaking authority when it comes to managing the lives of the citizenry. Chevron has largely made that possible.
Last year’s federal register logged the second-highest page count ever, at over 90,000 pages. More than 3,000 rules and regulations were produced by agencies. The need for government to micromanage has spiraled out of control. The regulatory state has become a burgeoning behemoth, infiltrating nearly every aspect of our lives, and running completely contrary to what our framers intended.
In reaction to Chevron’s demise, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre assured the public that they will “continue to deploy the extraordinary expertise of the federal workforce to keep Americans safe.” A Georgetown University law professor lamented that the ruling is merely “the Supreme Court cutting back on agency power.” Yes, that is the point.
Before this court ruling, the Chevron doctrine had allowed laws to be loosely written by Congress who would then abdicate their responsibility to the agencies for clarifying and defining legislation. Eliminating the doctrine puts the lawmaking back into the hands of the legislative branch, where it belongs. People don’t elect federal bureaucrats; they elect representatives.
This is good news for energy policy. The Biden administration has advanced his climate agenda with a top-down, whole-of-government approach using nearly every agency at his disposal. Several of the draconian rules orchestrated over the last few years will be in trouble.
In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finalized a rule requiring large publicly traded companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, climate action, and the financial impacts of severe weather events. Receiving significant pushback from attorneys general, industry leaders, and other related organizations maintain that the SEC is overstepping its authority. They have an even stronger case now that Chevron is retired.
Multiple groups have already sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its recent tailpipe rule that would require two-thirds of all new light-duty vehicle sales be electric (EV). EPA is overstepping its bounds by regulating mobile sources and eliminating traditional combustion engine cars from the marketplace.
Former EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler says the agency’s new power plant rule that will shut down coal and natural gas plants “is incredibly legally vulnerable.” The EPA will have difficulty proving to the courts that carbon capture, specifically outlined as the best method to reduce carbon emissions, is a commercially viable option; the technology has not been adequately demonstrated.
And the recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) transmission rule, which overhauled the way U.S. power grids are planned and paid for, is another likely candidate. Critics argue that the latitude now granted to those involved in that decision-making is merely to expedite the retirement of reliable and affordable fossil fuels by replacing them with intermittent renewable energy sources. Once again, such maneuvers are meant to advance the climate agenda.
These regulations as written stand to overhaul major portions of the U.S. economy. Energy is an integral part of everyday life that no federal agency should have that much power to revamp or transform the consumer’s ability to carry out basic day-to-day functions. Now that Chevron is overturned, these onerous regulations can be more effectively challenged in court. And hopefully this is just the beginning of the dismantling of the administrative state.
Such policies should be handled in Congress, where representatives are meant to specifically detail bills and legislation and are ultimately held responsible for what they write and how they vote. The administration should not be resorting to federal agencies to enact a personal political agenda with heavy-handed regulations.
Chevron’s collapse is a big win for the energy sector and the everyday American.
Kristen Walker is a policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit www.theamericanconsumer.org or follow us on Twitter @ConsumerPal.