There's a fourth branch of the government: unelected regulators, and together with the Executive Branch, they've seized control
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"Laws? We don't need no laws. We don't have to follow your stinkin’ laws!”
Top Biden Officials Reveal Plans To Continue Pushing Climate Agenda If Supreme Court Blocks EPA
Leading Biden officials outlined their methods to keep pushing the administration’s climate agenda if the Supreme Court limits the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court is likely to weaken the Biden administration’s efforts to limit carbon dioxide emissions in West Virginia v. EPA, with several of the justices having probed the extent of EPA’s authority in oral arguments. President Joe Biden’s senior officials remain confident in their ability to advance the administration’s aggressive environmental agenda by using the Clean Air Act and other government powers.
During a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival, EPA Administrator Michael Regan promised to deploy a “suite of tools” including the Clean Air Act to regulate the power sector, regardless of the Supreme Court’s coming ruling.
“We have a suite of regulations that we can present to the power sector in one fell swoop,” Regan said.
The Biden administration is focused on ways to advance the ball on climate change policy and is prepared for multiple scenarios depending on what the Supreme Court decides and how far they go, according to Regan.
The transition to green energy “is not going to live and die by the Supreme Court’s decision tomorrow,” said White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy. “We just need to double down,” she continued.
The EPA is a great tool but “is not the only tool we have,” said McCarthy when discussing the upcoming decision.
“We’re not going to lose our stride, the only thing we’re going to try to continue to do is to go faster,” she said in reference to the future of Biden’s climate agenda.
McCarthy spoke of mobilizing the entire federal government “to take action” to accomplish Biden’s climate goals.
“Clean energy is the winner, whether you like it or not it already is,” she told the audience, speaking of the administration’s transition to clean energy.
Here’s an approving look at what’s going on, written by a “progressive” liberal college professor:
…. “The recent rebelliousness of National Park Service (NPS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees against the Trump administration might be understood as one chapter of this story. Donald J. Trump rode the Tea Party wave of recent conservative movement politics into office, invoking hostility toward the federal government in general with his promise to “drain the swamp in Washington, D.C.”
… “He also launched specific attacks against the regulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by the EPA, promised a dramatic cut to the EPA’s budget, and opened the door to revoking federal environmental protections for millions of acres of lands in the west. In response, EPA employees have participated in anti-Trump rallies, spoken out in forums, and organized social media campaigns against the proposed cuts and rollbacks. National Park Service employees began trolling the Trump administration with reports of small inauguration crowd sizes and evidence of climate change on the twitter account @AltNatParkSer. Bureaucrats and former employees at a dozen agencies, from the State Department to NASA, quickly followed suit, although in my opinion none matched the striking icon of Smokey Bear with his head bowed and right arm raising a fist of defiance.
But this pervasive resistance from bureaucrats might also be understood as a part of a history of conservation professionals thinking of themselves as participants in a movement, not just as dutiful or self-interested government apparatchiks. Because many are committed environmentalists, and view their jobs as serving those beliefs, they have resisted the dramatic change in course from the Trump administration with creativity and vigor.”
IMORTANT UPDATE: Reader Bill R. has provided a link to this article from the Brownstone Institute that dissects this Fourth branch of government, and describes Trump’s aggressive attempt to regain control of it. I’ll excerpt some of it later today, but if you’re looking for some fascinating reading over your morning coffee, i recommend reading the whole thing.
