and temperatures in japan are the highest in nearly a 150 years, amid fears the electricity grid could be overwhelmed hello and welcome to the programme. the us supreme court has issued another landmark ruling, this time limiting the government s ability to regulate emissions from power plants. it marks a victory for the coal industry, but the united nations has described it as a setback in our fight against climate change . the us is the world s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, and the decision is a major blow to president biden s plan to reduce emissions. from washington, here s our north america editor, sarah smith. in california today, wildfires burning out of control are a vivid reminder
to impose carbon limits without the express approval of congress. the case was brought by 19 mostly republican states who were worried they could be forced to move away from using coal for power generation those states make up 44% of us emissions and have only reduced them by 7% since 2000. carbon limits could still be introduced by only if congress passes new legislation, and that is something joe biden currently does not have the votes to do. he promised at the cop summit last year that the us would lead by the power of its example on tackling climate change, but today it has become harder for him to take action at home and remember the us is the world s second largest emitter of carbon behind china accounting for nearly 14% of the world s greenhouse gas emissions.
climate goal of cutting greenhouse gases by 50% by the end of the decade a bit more difficult. now the power plants are the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases at the end and emissions from these power plants. we know are warming the planet. they re causing climate change. but today the supreme court curbed one of the epa s most effective tools to draftically curbing these emissions. what they re saying is this already belongs to congress. but we all know here, victor and alisyn, that the reality is that congress has not shown this political consensus to act aggressively. biden s climate legislation has been stalled quite some time. by default, today s ruling means, the legislation for the largest source of plan el-warming gases. it comes at a time where we are all seeing climb change right before our eyes.
authorities and perhaps refusing to be flexible. ,, , , , be flexible. second biggest emitter of these harmful be flexible. second biggest emitter of these harmful gases be flexible. second biggest emitter of these harmful gases behind - be flexible. second biggest emitter i of these harmful gases behind china? yes, but the coal industry in the us has a yes, but the coal industry in the us has a big yes, but the coal industry in the us has a big say. us relies heavily on it at the has a big say. us relies heavily on it at the moment there is a lot of pushhack it at the moment there is a lot of pushback from them and obviously, the supreme court is very conservative heavy, conservative majority conservative heavy, conservative majority of conservative heavy, conservative majority of which this piece in the ft touches majority of which this piece in the ft touches on but, yeah, it s a huge blow ft touches on but, yeah, it s a huge blow for ft touches on but, yeah, it s
america is a large part of the problem, the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world after china. but also a victim. you can see from the water line above the vast lake how much it has shrunk in recent years, impacting the water supply for millions of people in the south west. president biden came into office pledging to lead a global effort to reduce carbon emissions, promising in glasgow last year to lead by example. will we act and do what is necessary? will we seize the enormous opportunity before us? will we condemn future generations to suffer? future generations may not thank the us supreme court for a decision for a decision that restricts the federal government s ability to regulate energy producers. this ruling makes it harder forjoe biden to try to meet his climate change goals. the court has decided the