Carper, Pallone File Amicus Brief Defending EPA’s Authority to Establish Vehicle Emissions Standards

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, this week filed an amicus brief in the pending case of Texas v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

In the case, Texas and fourteen other states are challenging EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act.

“For more than 50 years, EPA has been able to establish emissions standards for the vehicles on our roads,” said Chairman Carper. “These standards allow Americans to breathe cleaner air and save money at the pump while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. We are urging the Court to reject this misguided attempt to severely undermine our ability to improve air quality and combat the climate crisis.”

“This case is political activism masquerading as legal theory. The Clean Air Act is explicit, and it is clear: the EPA has the express, statutory authority to issue technology-based emissions standards for motor vehicles. The ‘major questions’ doctrine simply does not apply, and by arguing otherwise, petitioners have only betrayed their own ability to understand the plain text of the law,” said Ranking Member Pallone. “The Clean Air Act has stood as a pillar of environmental law for more than 50 years, and Congress has both reaffirmed and strengthened it multiple times since. Just last year, Congress affirmed support for EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions with the Inflation Reduction Act. The Court must not allow petitioners to rewrite history and derail the historic progress Congress has intentionally made toward protecting public health and the environment.”

This filing comes after Carper and Pallone recently filed an amicus brief defending states’ right to establish GHG standards for automobiles that are stronger than federal standards in the case of Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The full text of the amicus brief is available here. 

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