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Ginsburg left a long environmental legacy
Environment Sep 22, 2020
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Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes her seat as she arrives to address first-year law students at the Georgetown Law Center in Washington, DC on Sept. 20, 2017. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images By ALEX GUILLÉN 09/19/2020 11:10 AM EDT Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at age 87, helped establish critical Supreme Court precedent that empowered EPA to address the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change. The landmark ruling she joined in 2007 that affirmed EPA’s power set up the Obama administration to issue rules limiting carbon pollution from cars, power plants and other sources — and set up a contentious legal battle over the extent of federal authority still being waged today. Though the core of her legacy centered on women’s rights and gender equality, Ginsburg was also a reliable vote over the decades in favor of environmental protections, and activists mourned her loss late Friday. “Through her expansive mind, sound temperament and unwavering judicial integrity, she plied the Constitution as a living instrument of American life, lending it meaning in the life of us all,” said Gina McCarthy, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council and former EPA administrator. “Our communities are […]
