The Supreme Court's Virginia uranium ruling hints at the limits of federal power

[turbinetree]

Published 4 mins ago on June 18, 2019
By The Conversation

Virginia has the authority to ban uranium mining under state law, even as the federal government regulates the processing of nuclear fuel under the Atomic Energy Act, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Neil Gorsuch, joined by the court’s longest-serving and newest conservatives – Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh – rejected the idea that Congress’ plan for nuclear enrichment could override Virginia’s decision to prohibit uranium mining altogether. On that point, these three conservatives were in sync with three of the court’s liberals, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. This remarkably diverse coalition agreed that the “Commonwealth’s mining ban is not preempted” by federal authority. Chief Justice John Roberts filed a dissent.

I have been involved in this case, Virginia Uranium, Inc. v. Warren, in its various iterations for more than a decade. Before joining the faculty at the University of Virginia School of Law, I worked with the Southern Environmental Law Center, an environmental advocacy organization that had raised grave concerns about a proposed uranium mine near the city of Danville.

All three of the opinions published in Virginia Uranium, Inc. v. Warren are likely to prove significant in future environmental battles – both in the courts and in the court of public opinion.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/the-supreme-courts-virginia-uranium-ruling-hints-at-the-limits-of-federal-power/


So now lets see what Roberts does in this upcoming lawsuit, he can run, but Roberts cannot hide:

JULIANA v. UNITED STATES
Youth Climate Lawsuit

https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/juliana-v-us

[hueymahl]

1. Unfortunately the author of that story does not really understand the case

The holding was really far more limited, and had little to do with states rights. The court simply said that the statute did not cover mining. If the statute had covered mining, then the court almost certainly would have found preemption.