Scott Joins Colleagues in Filing Amicus Brief in Pending Clean Air Act Supreme Court Case

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) today joined 47 senators and 45 House members—including Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.)—in filing an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the petitioners in the pending case West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The members agree that the EPA acted outside its congressionally-authorized authority by issuing significantly overreaching rules—namely the Clean Power Plan—to attempt to transform the nation’s power sector through emissions regulations under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.

“If Congress had intended to give the EPA such sweeping authority to transform an entire sector of our economy, Congress would have done so explicitly. An administrative agency like the EPA may decide issues of such vast economic and political significance only when the agency can point to ‘clear congressional authorization.’

“Decisions regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the power sector are major policy questions with vast economic and political significance. Only elected members of Congress, representing the will of the people, may decide these questions. The EPA’s attempt to issue expansive regulations cannot stand in the absence of clear congressional authorization.

“Congress knows how to address greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years, Congress has decided to pass transformative laws that incentivize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from a wide range of industries, including the electric power sector,” the brief states. 

Senate cosigners of the brief include Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

House cosigners of the brief include Representatives Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Steve Scalise (R-La.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas), Robert E. Latta (R-Ohio), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), David B. McKinley (R-W.Va.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Gus M. Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Billy Long (R-Mo.), Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Gary J. Palmer (R-Ala.), Neal P. Dunn (R-Fla.), John R. Curtis (R-Utah), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Greg Pence (R-Ind.), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho), Garret Graves (R-La.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), August Pfluger (R-Texas), Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), and Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.). 

Read the full text of the amicus brief here.

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