Supreme Court to consider if polluting industries can go court-shopping

The Supreme Court agreed to hear three cases Monday from industry groups seeking to choose how to fight federal environmental regulations, highlighting a long-running battle over efforts to pick conservative or liberal courts parties believe will be more friendly to their cause.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear three cases Monday from industry groups seeking to choose how to fight federal environmental regulations, highlighting a long-running battle over efforts to pick conservative or liberal courts parties believe will be more friendly to their cause. The Supreme Court’s decisions next year could have enormous consequences for the ability of states and others to challenge Environmental Protection Agency rules. The court’s conservative majority has repeatedly ruled against the agency in recent terms, including blocking implementation of a major effort to reduce smog and air pollution earlier this year. States and other plaintiffs frequently file cases in courts that they believe are more likely to rule in their favor, a practice known as “forum shopping.” That has become particularly pronounced in recent years in Texas, where conservatives often file suits challenging Biden administration policies because that opens the possibility of appealing to the conservative 5th Circuit. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court reversed a decision from the Louisiana-based 5th Circuit that would have severely limited access to the abortion drug mifepristone.An 8-1 majority also reversed a 5th Circuit guns decision, which had invalidated a federal law barring certain domestic abusers from having access to a firearm. Federal law generally dictates where challenges can be filed under the Clean Air Act, but the environmental cases the Supreme Court granted Monday may nevertheless call attention to questions about the political balance of the nation’s appeals courts. The Clean Air Act requires challenges of “nationally applicable” EPA decisions to be filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguably the second-most powerful court in the nation and which often upholds those environmental regulations. Congress included that mandate to ensure national consistency in how the agency’s environmental rules are reviewed by federal courts.