Polluting the law: the conservative legal mobilization’s attack on the environment

Abstract

The conservative legal movement gained momentum and influence over the law beginning in the 1980s. Today the movement has focused on various areas of the law to exert control over and the environment is one focal point. Following the liberal legal win of Massachusetts v. EPA, the Republican party began working to strip the power granted to the EPA by this decision. The upcoming case, West Virginia v. EPA, will determine whether the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The conservative movement will use arguments of state’s rights and separation of powers to make their case that the EPA does not have the authority to regulate CO2 emissions. It is predicted that the court will rule in favor of West Virginia by applying fringe ideologies of the Major Questions Doctrine or the Nondelegation Doctrine. The outcome of this case will set the precedent for how the Court will rule in future environmental cases, as well as in cases that deal with the authority of federal agencies.