Corporate Climate Change, Expose Series-Intro: Leaked memos show Supreme Court greenclimate dangers in Obama regs fight P13

2 hours ago

2 min read

By Alex Guillén

04/20/2026 06:48 AM EDT

Photo / Image Source: Unsplash,

That theory — which would have sidelined all other legal arguments and handcuffed EPA completely — was considered by many experts to rely on obscure questions about mismatched legislative language between the House and Senate when Congress passed the Clean Air Act. When the D.C. Circuit gathered in 2016 to hear arguments over the Clean Power Plan, Brett Kavanaugh — then a judge on that court — said the 112 exclusion argument felt like a “hall of mirrors.”

But earlier that year, Roberts had said behind closed doors that he felt like it was a “strong argument.”

Roberts didn’t elaborate, and no other justices addressed that issue in the memos that were made public.

Judge Justin Walker of the D.C. Circuit later endorsed that view when that court struck down the first Trump administration’s replacement regulation, the Affordable Clean Energy rule.

When that case was appealed to the Supreme Court, only one challenger continued to make the 112 exclusion argument. The high court initially said it would decide that question — but hours later reversed itself and said it would not consider the exclusion argument. Whether that reversal was an administrative error or an actual change in course by the justices is unclear.

The Supreme Court still was able to decide that EPA does not have the authority to issue sweeping climate rules for power plants.