{"id":45510,"date":"2024-08-01T12:10:29","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T19:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=45510"},"modified":"2024-08-01T12:10:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T19:10:30","slug":"as-courts-usurp-federal-regulatory-authority-new-mexicans-will-suffer-grave-harm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/as-courts-usurp-federal-regulatory-authority-new-mexicans-will-suffer-grave-harm\/","title":{"rendered":"As courts usurp federal regulatory authority, New Mexicans will suffer \u2018grave harm\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Everyone likes having clean water to drink or clean air to breathe. Yet,\u00a0industry and industry-backed politicians and judges continue eroding bedrock environmental laws and regulations in the United States.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of June, you might have seen headlines and social media posts about the Chevron Doctrine and the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-3 ruling on two cases related to industrial herring fishing, the Supreme Court knocked down the ability of federal agencies (like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA) to regulate pollution, protect the environment and public health, and more. (Those two cases, by the way: Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo<\/em> and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce<\/em>.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The June ruling overturns something called the Chevron Doctrine, which was established in 1984 after the court ruled on another case and established the precedent that courts should defer to federal agencies (with their expertise and scientists and public processes) when it comes to interpreting federal laws like the Clean Air Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(As an aside: That case during the Reagan administration was Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council<\/em>. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Chevron. Hence, the Chevron Doctrine. I know, it\u2019s confusing, but that ruling established the precedent that courts should defer to the federal agencies\u2019 interpretations and applications of federal laws.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are lots of important things to understand about all of this. But the most important thing to understand is power. That\u2019s according to Western Environmental Law Center Executive Director Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, who was on the show last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe challenge now,\u201d he said, \u201cis that courts are usurping that authority [of federal agencies] and aggregating power to themselves to decide how laws should be applied.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cWhen you look at that exercise of power, it is elevating economic interests. So, I think what happens ultimately is this comes at the expense of the public interest \u2014 and that will cause grave harm to New Mexico across all arenas from public health and safety to environmental protection to climate action to worker safety.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of a longer conversation, Schlenker-Goodrich talked about the court decision, what\u2019s at stake in the presidential election, power, optimism, and an \u201cecology of kinship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n