The US Supreme Court’s unexpected move to block President Barack Obama’s policy to cut pollution from coal plants highlights what both sides in the legal fight agree is a key weakness in the rules – a provision that expands the scope of regulation far beyond curbing emissions from individual smoke stacks.
Tuesday’s order, in which the court put a halt to the administration’s Clean Power Plan while a legal challenge goes forward in a federal appeals court, did not detail why the court’s five conservatives believed a stay was warranted.
