In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today to stay the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Good Neighbor Plan to reduce cross-state ozone pollution, Evergreen Action Senior Power Sector Policy Lead Charles Harper released the following statement:

“Today’s move by far-right Supreme Court justices to stay common-sense clean air rules shows just how radical this court has become. EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan follows a long tradition of Clean Air Act rules that protect Americans’ health and welfare from dangerous air pollution and is well in line with the agency’s authority. 

“The court is meddling with a rule that would prevent 1,300 Americans from dying prematurely every year from pollution that crosses state borders. We know that low-income and disadvantaged communities with poor air quality will bear the brunt of this delay. Alongside some justices’ attempts to overturn the Chevron Doctrine, this court is showing today that it is increasingly substituting its own right-wing politics for the scientific expertise at federal agencies. Americans deserve clean air, and the Clean Air Act gives EPA clear authority to set this much-needed rule. While we ultimately expect EPA to prevail in court, today’s stay order is a temporary step in the wrong direction.”

Evergreen Action has been tracking the Good Neighbor Plan and other essential EPA air pollution rules in its EPA Report Card, the final version of which was released this May.