Climate Power Statement on the Supreme Court Decision Protecting Polluters

Washington, D.C. – Climate Power executive director Lori Lodes issued the following statement on today’s pro-polluter decision in Relentless v. Dept. of Commerce and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo:

“The Supreme Court has issued yet another decision that puts polluters and their profits ahead of our health and safety. This deeply misguided ruling gives corporations more control over our lives while making it harder to protect our air and water, fight climate change, and protect workers. Unsurprisingly, Big Oil has spent decades and millions of dollars to achieve this exact result and pad its profits at our expense.

“This, like so many other recent Supreme Court decisions threatening our rights and freedoms, is because of MAGA extremists and Donald Trump. The future of the Supreme Court and the decisions they deliver that impact our health, economy, and democracy are all on the ballot in November.”

As the New York Times reported in a must-read story, the hidden hand of the oil and gas industry is behind this effort to dismantle the ability to hold polluters accountable: “the lawyers who have helped to propel their case to the nation’s highest court have a far more powerful backer: the petrochemicals billionaire Charles Koch…The lawyers who represent the New Jersey-based fishermen are working pro bono and belong to a public-interest law firm, Cause of Action, that discloses no donors and reports having no employees. However, court records show that the lawyers work for Americans for Prosperity, a group funded by Mr. Koch, the chairman of Koch Industries and a champion of anti-regulatory causes.”