A string of recent Supreme Court decisions could present significant legal challenges to the Biden administration’s efforts to boost the sale of electric vehicles while reducing emissions from gas-powered cars and trucks.
Bracewell partner Jeff Holmstead, who served as assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation under President George W. Bush, told The Washington Post that the EPA needs to be able to convince the court that Congress empowered it to issue its climate rule regarding the transportation sector, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of the Chevron doctrine.
“The question is going to be, ‘Did Congress clearly intend to give EPA authority to force a fundamental shift in the transportation sector?’ And the answer may very well be that Congress can certainly do that itself, but there’s no indication that Congress intended to give EPA that power,” said Holmstead.
