WASHINGTON POST • May 25, 2023
The Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday has made the worst fears of environmentalists a reality. Congress spoke clearly in the Clean Water Act about its ambitions and backed that intent up with deliberately sweeping language to provide the EPA with the discretionary authority it needed to realize those goals. Our nation’s waters are far cleaner as a result. Yet, for the second time in less than a year, an activist Supreme Court has deployed the false label of “separation of powers” to deny the other two branches the legal tools they require to safeguard the public. The impact of the majority ruling is potentially enormous. It could lead to the removal of millions of miles of streams and millions of acres of wetlands from the law’s direct protection. ~ Richard J. Lazarus, professor of law, Harvard Law School