According to recent reports, a federal district court overturned a Biden administration climate rule that mandated states to track emissions of greenhouse gasses and subsequently set reduction goals for vehicles on highways.
However, Judge Benjamin Beaton of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky issued a bombshell judgment that ordered the Federal Highway Administration to abandon the rules, which were finalized in November of last year.
A total of 21 states joined to challenge the Federal Highway Administration rule, where Beaton ultimately agreed that the FHWA overextended its authority. The federal judge, who former president Donald Trump appointed, determined the move was “arbitrary” and “capricious.”
“Even assuming Congress gave the Administrator authority to set environmental performance standards that embrace CO2, the Administrator exercised that authority in an arbitrary and capricious manner,” Judge Benjamin Beaton wrote.
The Biden administration rule had drawn significant pushback from Republicans who claimed the move infringed upon the liberties of everyday Americans in their respective states. “President Biden’s radical environmental agenda has lost touch with reality, and Kentucky families, farmers and workers are paying the price,” Republican state Attorney General Russell Coleman said on Tuesday. “Like all Americans, Kentuckians love our trucks, cars and vans. With this victory in court, we’re slamming the brakes on the Biden administration’s politics that make no sense in the commonwealth.”
Beaton further substantiated his argument that the federal government had exceeded the authority to command these actions from states. “If Congress did purport to give the Administrator authority to set state policy, that would raise a different and arguably bigger problem,” Beaton said in his bombshell ruling. “Modern constitutional doctrine allows Congress to demand much from states, but it cannot commandeer or coerce the apparatus of state governments into mere administrative districts of the federal government.”
The federal judge continued describing the implications this would have on the federalist system of governance. “If the Administrator were allowed to shove national greenhouse-gas policy into the mouths of uncooperative state Departments of Transportation, this would corrupt the separation of sovereigns central to our lasting and vibrant system of federalism,” he continued. “Neither the Constitution nor the Administrative Procedure Act authorizes administrative ventriloquism.”
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However, the department noted that it will continue to pursue the initiatives set forth by the Biden administration to reduce carbon emissions. “The Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration remain committed to supporting the Biden-Harris administration’s climate goals of cutting carbon pollution in half by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050,” according to an FHWA spokesperson. “We are reviewing the court’s decision and determining next steps.”
This is not the first instance in which the Biden administration’s climate-related policies have received substantial backlash from conservatives and industry experts who oppose them. The American Tribune reported on comments from one energy expert who called on Americans to “rise up against” Biden’s coercive EV agenda.
“These are cars that Americans don’t want and can’t afford. The rule that the EPA put out yesterday is bad for American consumers. It’s bad for American jobs, and it’s only good for China,” American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers said during a recent Fox News appearance. “The American people need to rise up against this rule and reject it.”