It is the time of ‘America Now’ that delivers vivid American news.
Moderator) What kind of news do you have today?
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has no authority to regulate carbon emissions from electric power plants. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he would not allow the US economy to plunge into a “high inflation regime,” which could mean raising interest rates to levels that make economic growth difficult. Next, I would like to share with you the news that the oil industry did not respond to the Joe Biden administration’s auction of a drilling right for lease on federal land.
Host) America Now, this is the first news. It’s a Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has no authority to regulate carbon emissions from thermal and gas power plants?
Reporter) Yes. In a decision announced on the 30th, the Supreme Court said that the Environmental Protection Agency has no authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions related to climate change based on the Clean Air Act. Of the nine Supreme Court justices, all six conservative judges made this decision, and the decision was announced 6-3.
Moderator) Let’s take a look at the Supreme Court’s decision.
Yes, the conservative Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority vote, said it could be reasonable to limit carbon emissions to levels that would force an energy transition nationwide. However, the Air Pollution Control Act did not give the Environmental Protection Agency this authority, Justice Roberts said. On the other hand, progressive Justice Elena Kagan, in her dissenting opinion, argued that the decision stripped the EPA of the power Congress had given it to address some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
Moderator) When did the issue of the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emission regulation start?
It goes back to the days of the Barack Obama administration. At that time, the administration announced the ‘Clean Power Plan’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from thermal power plants. This is a content that urges the Environmental Protection Agency to limit the amount of greenhouse gas that can be emitted by each state and to switch to clean energy generation such as wind and solar energy in the future. However, the Environmental Protection Agency changes the direction of regulation after the Trump administration. Rather than limiting carbon emissions at the federal level, the Affordable Clean Energy rule was released, which relaxed regulations that allowed states to set their own reduction targets. In response, 22 states, including New York State, filed lawsuits, claiming that this violates obligations under the Clean Air Act, and the Federal Court of Appeals in 2021 ruled in favor of them.
Moderator) Does this Supreme Court decision overturn the decision of the Federal Court of Appeals?
Reporter) That’s right. Reuters reported that the Supreme Court’s decision would no longer pressure the Environmental Protection Agency to switch to clean energy instead of thermal power. Greenhouse gas emissions from thermal and gas power plants account for the second largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States after transportation.
Host) President Joe Biden has been emphasizing the response to the climate crisis since taking office. One of the key ones is the regulation of greenhouse gas emission, right?
Reporter) That’s right. The Biden administration aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half within the next 10 years and to bring carbon emissions to ‘zero’ by 2035. With this decision, it appears that these goals will be hit.
Moderator) Did you say that the Democrats and Republicans took different positions?
Yes, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the decision as dangerously misleading and disgusting, linking it to recent Supreme Court decisions on abortion and gun control. Meanwhile, Republican litigation Senator Kevin Kramer welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision, saying Congress reaffirms that the federal government did not intend to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to states.
Let’s look at one more Supreme Court decision. Did the Supreme Court decide that it’s okay to repeal the ‘remain in Mexico policy’, which requires US asylum seekers to wait outside the borders until a court ruling is confirmed?
Reporter) That’s right. The Supreme Court ruled on the 30th that the Biden administration could repeal the ‘remain in Mexico policy’, an immigration policy created by the former Trump administration. The official name of this policy is ‘Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)’ ) was introduced to restrict the inflow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. In the meantime, the Biden administration tried to repeal the policy, but it was blocked every time in lower courts. ‘CNN’ broadcast predicted that the policy would be abolished soon after the Supreme Court’s decision on that day.
Host) America Now, this time it’s about the economy of the United States. It’s the central bank of the United States. Did Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell talk about inflation, the biggest issue in the economy lately?
Reporter) Yes, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell attended the European Central Bank (ECB) forum in Sintra, Portugal on the 29th. During this meeting, Chairman Powell emphasized that his biggest goal is to prevent entry into a high-inflation regime. Chairman Powell said the current crisis is that the various shocks have begun to shift towards a high inflation regime, but what we have to do is prevent this from happening.
Moderator) What are the measures to prevent the high inflation problem?
Chairman Powell said he is committed to using the tools available to tackle the inflation problem, which is slowing economic growth.
Moderator) Are you explaining that it is more important to solve the problem of high inflation while slowing down economic growth?
Chairman Powell emphasized that a more important issue than economic growth is price stability. Chairman Powell acknowledged that there is a risk that the economy may be at risk of falling into too great a crisis due to measures such as interest rate hikes. However, he did not agree that this is a bigger crisis for the economy, pointing out that the bigger mistake is the failure to restore price stability.
Moderator) Chairman Powell considers price stability the biggest challenge on earth in the current economic situation. What is the Fed’s stable inflation rate?
Reporter: Yes, the Fed is targeting inflation in the 2% range. However, in May, the US inflation rate was 8.6%, the highest in 40 years.
Moderator) The Fed’s representative response to achieving price stability is to raise interest rates, right? What level are you currently at?
Reporter) The Fed took the so-called ‘giant step’ by raising the benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points at a time this month. Current interest rates range from 1.5% to 1.75%. The Fed is expected to continue raising rates this year. The benchmark interest rate is expected to rise to 3.4% by the end of this year.
Moderator) Let’s continue with the economic news. The US economic growth rate in the first quarter was revised to be slightly lower.
Reporter) Yes, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on the 29th, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of the United States in the first quarter of last year was finalized at -1.6% per annum. It was revised down by 0.1 percentage point from the previously announced preliminary estimate of -1.5%. The growth rate is announced three times: a preliminary value, a provisional value, and a final value. This announcement is definitive.
Moderator) What is the reason for the downgrade this time?
Reporter) The Associated Press analyzed that personal consumption, which accounts for two-thirds of the US economy, was weaker than initially expected. The growth rate of personal consumption expenditure, which was originally expected to increase by 3.1% last month, decreased by 1.3%p to 1.8%. In addition, the record trade deficit in the first quarter also pulled down the overall GDP by 3.2 percentage points, the news agency said.
Moderator) How long has it been since the US economy showed negative economic growth?
Reporter) It is the last time the U.S. economy recorded negative economic growth since the first and second quarters of 2020, during the early days of the novel coronavirus pandemic. After this period, from the third quarter, it returned to a positive growth rate again. Since then, it has recorded positive growth for the sixth consecutive quarter. In particular, compared to the high growth rate of 6.9% in the fourth quarter of last year, just before the first quarter, this negative growth rate is more prominent. The Associated Press reported, however, that the negative growth rate seen in the first quarter would not be the beginning of a recession, and experts predict that the US economy will grow again this summer.
Moderator) In the midst of this, it appears that a significant number of Americans believe that the United States is not on the right track?
Reporter) Yes, according to the results of a poll by the AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, the majority of respondents (85%) believe that the United States is now on the wrong path. Above all, it is pointed out that this is the case in terms of economic issues. 69% of respondents said that they see the current economic situation as bad.
Moderator) Do dissatisfaction with the economic policies of the Biden administration differ depending on which party you support?
Reporter) In general, if you support the Democrats, your approval rating for the Biden administration’s policies is also high. However, economic policies are a little different. In other areas, such as gun policy and Corona pandemic response, the rate of not supporting it does not exceed 30%. Of those who said they supported the Democrats in economic policy, 43% said they did not support it. A whopping 93% of Republicans say they do not support the Biden administration’s economic policies.
Host) America Now, the next news. Any news about a drilling right rental auction on federal land?
Reporter) Yes, the auction for the lease of drilling rights on federally owned land started on the 29th. However, it was found that oil companies did not actively participate on the first day of the auction. On the first day, a drilling right rental auction was held on 1.2 million acres of land in Wyoming. More than a third of auctions for the 105 parcels offered that day closed without a bid. Auctions for an additional 17 parcels in Wyoming continue through the 30th.
Moderator) How much federal land does the federal government want to lease onshore drilling rights to?
It is about 144,000 acres. It spans eight states. Among them, Wyoming is the largest, accounting for more than 90%. The remaining states are Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, and North Dakota.
Moderator) Why aren’t the oil companies showing much interest in the federal government’s auction of drilling rights?
Reporter) Kathleen Sgamma, chairman of the ‘Western Energy Alliance’, judged that each company was not worth taking the extra time, money and risk considering the government’s ban on leases and restrictions on lease-related lawsuits. explained that it could be done.
Did the Biden administration actually try to ban drilling rights leasing?
Reporter) That’s right. Originally, the Biden administration wanted to ban the leasing of drilling rights on land. However, as the court blocked such plans, in April, the company announced the resumption of rentals. However, about 80% of the original land was reduced. The tax payable to the government has also been significantly increased from 12.5% to 18.75%.
Moderator) Environmental groups have sued the Biden administration’s lease of drilling rights?
Reporter) Yes. Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club have joined forces to file a lawsuit in Washington, DC federal court. In the lawsuit, they pointed out that the Department of Home Affairs’ Land Management (BLM) failed to adequately analyze the impacts on climate change, including the additional greenhouse gas emissions from the lease of drilling rights. Environmental group Earthjustice has also filed a separate lawsuit, alleging that the Department of the Interior and the Land Administration’s decision to tender the Wyoming land failed to address its environmental impacts on groundwater and wildlife.
Moderator) What is the position of the oil companies in this lawsuit?
Reporter) The Western Energy Alliance pointed out that the recent lawsuit is a completely baseless claim. They emphasized that this is because federal law specifically states that oil and gas utilization is a major reason for public land use.
Host) America Now, I’ll listen up to this point.
