SCOTUS West Virginia v. EPA ruling limits EPA power to regulate carbon from existing power plants

The Supreme Court rules 6-3 in West Virginia v. EPA that the agency cannot use the Clean Power Plan approach of shifting energy generation from coal to natural gas and renewables as a method to reduce carbon emissions from the electricity sector. Chief Justice Roberts writes that such a transformative "generation shifting" policy requires explicit congressional authorization under the major questions doctrine. The ruling does not prohibit the EPA from setting carbon emission limits at individual plants, the approach the Biden EPA adopts in its 2024 power plant rules. Justice Kagan's dissent warns the ruling strips the EPA of its tools to fight climate change, stating "The subject matter of the regulation here makes the majority's errors all the more consequential."