Reform the Supreme Court to advance environmental progress
Embroiled in controversy and a crisis of ethics, the United States Supreme Court continues to hand down decisions in direct opposition to precedent, the Constitution, and public opinion. The court has taken a MAGA right turn because of extremists’ concerted effort to transform it into their political weapon. What was once intended to be an apolitical body of reason has now become an arm of partisan extremism. The overturning of affirmative action and abortion rights are just the most glaring aspects of their agenda to thwart decades of progress and precedent. Something that gets less attention — but is no less important — is the court’s march to restrict action on the climate crisis.
Over the last two years, this court has handed down major decisions attacking our ability to protect our air and water. The court’s anti-environmental agenda could not have come at a worse time with unprecedented wildfires in Maui, heat domes across the U.S., and oceans reaching their hottest temperatures in recorded history. And now, the court is considering hamstringing the government’s ability to take action on the climate crisis by overturning deference to federal agencies in Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo. This legal precedent, called the Chevrondoctrine, instructs the court to defer to federal agencies who have scientific and policy expertise, like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), when considering a statute that agency administers.
Throwing out four decades of legal precedent would be corporate polluters’ greenlight to, with a flurry of litigation, delay or defeat federal agencies’ actions to fight climate change. Not only would overturning Chevronlimit agencies’ ability to protect the environment, individuals would be forced to sue for every infraction on their rights because agencies would not be required to protect them in the first place.
This is of the right-wing’s design. For decades, the corporate-polluter funded Federalist Society has worked to stack the judiciary with anti-government and anti-environmental judges. Senate Republicans have played along, distorting and delegitimizing the judicial nomination process, and ultimately opening the floodgates for judicial extremism by enabling President Trump to fill one-third of the Court.
Meanwhile, right-wing billionaires have been taking advantage of the court’s lack of public accountability, providing justices with luxury trips and gifts to influence their decisions away from the public eye. Justice Clarence Thomas shamefully accepted lavish gifts from billionaires with business in front of the court, failed to disclose the gifts, and violated federal law by failing to disclose private jet travel — all while being used for tax breaks. Justice Samuel Alito’s wife leased land to an oil and gas firm while he joined majority opinions diluting the EPA’s authority. Without a code of ethics, the judiciary is inviting more corruption.
What can be done to hold the Court accountable? People from across the country are uniting to support the Supreme Court Ethics Act, which would institute a code of conduct for Supreme Court justices. Members of Congress have requested the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Justice Thomas’ alleged staggering violations of the Ethics in Government Act. Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Don Beyer (D-Va.) have introduced legislation to place term limits on justices. And bicameral legislation, the Judiciary Act, would add four more seats to undo the MAGA hijacking of our nation’s highest court. Organizations like California Environmental Voters are working to restore the court’s balance and protect the planet we leave to future generations. If we don’t act now, corporate polluters will continue to use this court to strip our rights away and eventually expand the court with their own choices.
The American people need to be able to trust that the court works for them — not partisan special interests or corporate polluters. We can’t stand by while the court threatens to upend decades of precedent with cases like Loper Bright. Future generations will want to know what we did in this moment to fight back and protect our environment. Together we can create a legacy that we are proud to share.
Ted Lieu represents California’s 36th District. Mike Young is California Environmental Voters political and organizing director.