Out of several important recent Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) decisions, the generation of electric power; the regulation of mining and drilling in the West; and the subsequent cost of electricity, gasoline and diesel fuel are critical issues to agriculture.
The case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was of interest even before it became more fundamental and far-reaching regarding all federal agencies.
The case in question contested whether EPA had the authority to force a generation shift in the power industry from an electricity grid that relies on coal power plants for 22 percent of its electricity to a grid that uses wind and solar instead. Seventeen states joined in the suit.
A post from the law firm Phelps Dunbar LLP summarized the case: The ruling held the federal Clean Air Act does not grant EPA the authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. A 6-3 majority held that the “generation shifting” scheme was an impermissible expansion of EPA’s regulatory authority.
EPA regulations had already forced the closure of many coal plants, which once made up nearly half of our electricity sources. Natural gas is the next target (38 percent) as the Biden administration attempts to kill off all fossil fuel energy sources.
An opinion footnote said the agency was overstepping its authority by indirectly decreeing what the “market share of coal, natural gas, wind and solar must be, and then requiring plants to reduce operations or subsidize their competitors to get there.”
Of course, taxpayers’ subsidies have already poured into renewables, and such EPA regulations also put ratepayers on the hook—more cost shifting.
“A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body,” the majority opinion said.
The bottom line: There must be “clear congressional authorization” for such a major question.
The political left was horrified by the SCOTUS ruling on the EPA case. For them, it meant more pressure to pass another Senate simple majority reconciliation bill with loads of climate change measures. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told the Democrats there would be no bipartisan China competitiveness, national security investment and federal semiconductor bill if the Democrats pursue a very partisan reconciliation bill. President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have been discussing a reconciliation bill with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to raise over $1.5 trillion in new taxes and pass more climate change regulations, social programs and drug price rules. It’s a partial resurrection of Biden’s Build Back Better Act, proposing to pump $52 billion into the semiconductor industry.
SCOTUS’ refusal to hear the appeal from Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) of a long-running case against the checkoff ends another destructive effort by R-CALF USA. R-CALF has used the legal arms of meat industry enemies to attack the national Beef Checkoff and, by extension, the beef promotion and research division at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The case was filed against the Montana Beef Council in 2016 and was later expanded to 13 other state beef councils. R-CALF lost the case in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals but petitioned SCOTUS to hear it.
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board entered into memorandums of understanding with 20 state beef councils after the initial lawsuit. It put what it had already been doing into formal rules to ensure state beef council compliance with the Beef Act and Order in ads or information.
R-CALF protested those memorandums in the courts, while at the same time claiming credit for forcing “reforms.” R-CALF opposes the only self-help, self-funded program the industry has, despite the program being voted in by cattle producers themselves and consistently polling quite favorably.
Besides the steady upward trend of domestic beef demand, the tremendous boost for the beef industry from exports totaling over $10.5 billion in 2021 has come from the checkoff’s major contributions to the U.S. Meat Export Federation. However, R-CALF continues their destructive efforts and accuses the cattlemen and cattlewomen running it of nefarious deeds.
Some news isn’t so good. A district court for northern California reinstated stricter rules for threatened species under the Endangered Species Act that had been eased by the Trump administration. Those rules had not applied the same protections to “threatened” species as they did to “endangered” species. Now, the agency will be required to provide both the same protections.
The Trump rules allowed consideration of economic impacts for protecting a species. Activists and courts do not want a federal agency taking human impacts into consideration. Some complained the Trump rules didn’t allow enough leeway for climate considerations, a Biden administration priority. — Steve Dittmer, WLJ columnist
(Steve Dittmer is the author of the Agribusiness Freedom Foundation newsletter. Views in the column do not necessarily represent the views or opinions ofWLJor its editorial staff.)
