The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rules cracking down on power-plant emissions hinge on the extent of its authority to set pollution standards under the Clean Act. More than two dozen states joined rural power companies and coal advocates in challenging the rule, calling it an unlawful effort to remake the nation’s electricity system.

Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law 117-169), separately imposes fines on the oil and gas industry for methane emissions. Lawmakers left it up to the EPA to decide how to calculate the penalties and what companies can do to avert charges. Methane is the second-largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide.

The EPA in January proposed charging energy producers $900 per ton of excess methane emitted this year, with fees rising to $1,500 per ton by 2026.

Senate Energy Committee Chair Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in March that the proposals are “inconsistent with congressional intent” and called on the administration to make the charges more flexible. The EPA has yet to finalize the fees.

Student loans

Alleviating student debt is part of Biden’s pitch to younger voters. He wants to leverage the Higher Education Act (Public Law 89-329) to slash student debt for as many as 26 million Americans, after the Supreme Court in 2023 blocked his initial plan to use pandemic emergency powers to forgive loans for more borrowers.

Friday’s decision gives Republicans another tool to stop future rounds of debt cancellation by arguing that the actions overstep the authority Congress gave to the Education Department.

Two federal judges on Monday temporarily halted Biden’s plan to quicken forgiveness for certain borrowers, one of the administration’s most recent moves to cut down on student debt.

The Biden administration does not have “clear congressional authorization,” to implement the plan, Judge Daniel D. Crabtree of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas wrote.

Tax

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