“The Supreme Court’s common sense decision states that federal regulatory agencies cannot bypass Congress and unilaterally impose unprecedented and economically and politically significant mandates. Nor can they ignore their own legislatively-approved mandates, stretching them far beyond what was intended. Finally, they cannot extend their reach outside their own expertise.”

Writing in The New Republic, Simon Lazarus, retired Senior Counsel for the Constitutional Accountability Center, charges that the Supreme Court has appointed itself to be America’s regulatory czar, declaring:

The high court cast aside the peoples’ elected representatives to enact the climate denial agenda of the mega-donors who funded their nominations.

Lazarus rests his case on claims that the Court:

1. Had no right to take the case
2. Ignored the clear text of the law – specifically Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act
3.  Ignored the interests and stated desires of American utility companies

In making his argument, Lazarus adopted the now-familiar debate tactic of accusing the opposing side of doing exactly what he and his side are doing, namely creating regulatory czars and, in the process, bypassing the country’s elected representatives.…