In a big victory for groups rallying against the large number of federal energy regulations that have been crafted over the last six years, the U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had erred in its issuing of a 2012 final rule limiting mercury pollution from power plants. Specifically, the court ruled in Michigan vs. EPA that EPA failed to fully take into account what the compliance costs would be for the power plant industry. While EPA did do a cost analysis, EPA’s final rule stated that any costs were outweighed by potential public health benefits. The court ruled that this line of thinking was unacceptable in determining whether the rule should have been finalized.

Monday’s ruling may now call into question other current and future Obama Administration climate change initiatives. As well, the court’s ruling could question the U.S. Supreme Court’s longstanding philosophy of giving regulatory agencies the benefit of the doubt in similar cases.