Breaking: Supreme Court Blocks Obama’s Climate Plan

This is huge. The Supreme Court, by a 5 – 4 vote, has just issued a stay of Obama’s so-called “Clean Power Plan,” pending a full review of the case by a lower appeals court. ABC News reports:

A divided Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to halt enforcement of President Barack Obama’s sweeping plan to address climate change until after legal challenges are resolved.

The surprising move is a blow to the administration and a victory for the coalition of 27 mostly Republican-led states and industry opponents that call the regulations “an unprecedented power grab.”

By temporarily freezing the rule the high court’s order signals that opponents have made a strong argument against the plan. A federal appeals court last month refused to put it on hold.

The court’s four liberal justices said they would have denied the request.

Obama’s EPA was betting that the slow legal process would mean that they’d have a lot of things in place, and many utilities would have complied with the EPA’s dictates, before the law was settled at the Supreme Court. I suspect the five Republican justices believe the challenge to the law has a good chance to succeed on the merits. Interesting how this will play out over the rest of this election.

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