Menendez Joins more than 190 Congressional Democrats in Amicus Brief Defending EPA’s Clean Air Act Authority

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), along with more than 190 congressional Democrats, submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court this week in the case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The brief supports EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act to protect the public from harmful pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and address the climate crisis. It also rejects spurious arguments made by congressional Republicans in their own amicus brief, in which they wrongly challenge the EPA's authority to address climate pollution.

"For more than fifty years, the Clean Air Act has reduced pollution and improved air quality for families in New Jersey," said Sen. Menendez. "Now, polluters are working to roll back the clock on this progress and hamstring EPA's ability to address the climate crisis. I'm proud to stand with my colleagues in defending this landmark law and protecting Americans access to clean air."

192 congressional Democrats-29 in the Senate and 163 in the House-signed onto the amicus brief, which argues that:

• By enacting the Clean Air Act (CAA), Congress gave the EPA broad authority to regulate air pollution like carbon dioxide (CO2). Section 111(d) of the CAA serves as a gap-filling provision to give the EPA flexibility to address pollution problems that developed since the CAA was passed over 50 years ago.
• Congress has taken an all-hands-on-deck approach to a problem as complex as climate change. The Republican arguments that new bills that seek to address the climate crisis somehow limit the authority of the EPA or repeal its existing authority do not hold water.
• Congress explicitly affirmed the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) like CO2 with a bipartisan vote on the resolution last year to re-impose an Obama-era rule supporting the EPA's regulation of methane emissions.
• Republicans have failed to curtail the EPA's authority through Congress. They are now asking the court to do what they haven't been able to do legislatively.
• Congress is creating as many avenues as possible to deal with the climate crisis. The Court should tread carefully in curtailing any specific tool, including the CAA.

Full text of the amicus brief is available here.

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