The United States Supreme Court on Monday largely upheld the Obama administration's authority to curb greenhouse gases from major emitters like power plants and refineries in a ruling that nonetheless exempted some smaller sources from the regulation.
On a 7-2 vote, the court rejected an industry-backed argument that most emitting facilities should not be regulated for greenhouse gases under one particular air pollution program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
But industry could claim a partial win because the court ruled on a 5-4 vote that some facilities the government had wanted to regulate will be exempted. Some landfills, pulp and paper facilities, electronics manufacturing plants, chemical production plants and beverage producers are among the small industrial sources likely to be exempted, an EPA spokesman said.