Washington (June 30, 2022) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement today after the Supreme Court announced its decision in West Virginia v. EPA.

“Today’s ruling lets polluters turn back the clock on fifty years of reduced pollution and improved air quality all across the country. The result of this dangerous decision is an EPA that is undermined in its ability to protect the public from harmful pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot sit by as a captured, illegitimate, and far-right Supreme Court majority eviscerates the authorities that the government has had for decades to address greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuels and prevent climate chaos.

“Congress must not only support the EPA’s longstanding, life-saving efforts to protect climate and public health in the face of this decision, but Congress must also do its job and pass meaningful climate and clean energy funding to protect our communities and our future. I call on my colleagues to take seriously the threat this illegitimate, far-right Supreme Court poses to preventing the federal government from acting as Congress intended. We must expand the Court to restore balance to the bench, and we must pass the climate justice and clean energy package that will enable our urgent efforts to address the climate crisis.”

In January of 2021, Senator Markey joined nearly 200 colleagues from the House and Senate in submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in West Virginia v. EPA in support of the EPA’s position. In April of 2021, Senator Markey, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Hank Johnson (GA-04), and Representative Mondaire Jones (NY-17) introduced the Judiciary Act of 2021 which will expand the Supreme Court by adding four seats, creating a 13-justice Supreme Court. The legislation is endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters.

###