The Supreme Court stays the Clean Power Plan
On 9 February 2016 the Supreme Court issued a 5–4 stay of the Clean Power Plan pending judicial review, the first time the Court had stayed an EPA rule before a circuit decision on the merits. Neighbouring Paris 2016 still completed as a depositary act. In the causal graph this event weakens Decarbonization and climate-mitigation policy, a driver that weakens Global CO2 emissions per capita — a worsening welfare path.
Read the full account
On 9 February 2016 the Supreme Court issued a 5–4 stay of the Clean Power Plan pending judicial review, the first time the Court had stayed an EPA rule before a circuit decision on the merits. The 2015 rule remains the parent.
Context
CPP 3 August 2015 sat as parent. Neighbouring Paris 2016 still completed as a depositary act. He did not sit as the Court. States and industry petitioners won the stay.
CPP 3 August 2015 is the parent rule. Paris 3 September 2016 is a neighbour depositary act that still completed.
A United States president proposes, signs, vetoes, and directs the executive. Congress enacts statutes. The Federal Reserve, states, courts, and later presidents share later series. Office-holding is not authorship of every later outcome. Allegation is not a completed judgment. Legislative achievements require shared congressional attribution. He does not set the federal funds rate, write a state Medicaid waiver by himself, or convert a 2009 oath into a unique 2016 uninsured coefficient. A signature is not unique authorship of a House and Senate text. A troop order is not authorship of every later round. He is not president as of 27 August 2026. Donald Trump is president from 20 January 2025. Joe Biden was president 2021–2025.
Why it matters
The path is decarbonization policy: a completed apex stay of the parent EPA rule.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Barack Obama
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.35 · verified
The Court stayed. He had issued the parent rule through EPA. Petitioner states litigated.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactThe Supreme Court stays the Clean Power Plan
- weakensDriverDecarbonization and climate-mitigation policy
- weakensIndicators (3)Global CO2 emissions per capita
impact weight 0.6 · Effect from 9 February 2016 · verified
A completed apex stay of the CPP is a dated pause of federal power-sector carbon guidelines.
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.36 (weight 0.6 × strength 0.6)
Observed
4.73 tonnes CO2 per person per year · 2.43 above the normal line (2024)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 4.71 tonnes CO2 per person per year (2023) and 4.73 tonnes CO2 per person per year (2024).
20232024 Above normal = worse
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.3 (weight 0.6 × strength 0.5)
Observed
32.9 micrograms per cubic metre (annual mean, population-weighted) · 27.9 above the normal line (2023)
Worse than normal3 readings, 2021–2023: fell from 33.2 micrograms per cubic metre (annual mean, population-weighted) to 32.9 micrograms per cubic metre (annual mean, population-weighted).
Above normal = worse
- Worse
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.24 (weight 0.6 × strength 0.4)
Observed
30% of electricity generation · 11 above the normal line (2023)
Better than normal6 readings, 2000–2023: rose from 18.9% of electricity generation to 30% of electricity generation.
Above normal = better
- FactThe Supreme Court stays the Clean Power Plan
- weakensDriverCarbon-Pricing Coverage
- strengthensIndicatorOut-of-School Rate, Primary School Age (global)
impact weight 0.4 · Effect from 9 February 2016 · verified
Staying state-plan guidelines reduces expected near-term carbon-cost coverage.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.16 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.4)
Observed
11% of primary-school-age children · 11 above the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalAbove normal = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Reuters — U.S. Supreme Court blocks Obama’s Clean Power PlanReuters · High credibility · verified
- 2.Supreme Court of the United States — 9 February 2016 order staying the Clean Power PlanSupreme Court of the United States · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Supreme Court of the United States carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.
Established: 9 February 2016 Supreme Court stay, independently reported.
Not established: that the Paris Agreement uniquely fell that day — it did not — or a unique later coal-plant coefficient from the stay hour.
He had issued the parent rule through EPA. Petitioner states litigated.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date.
Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to The Court stayed. Petitioner states litigated. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorBarack Obama
- contributed toFactThe Supreme Court stays the Clean Power Plan
- weakensDrivers (2)Decarbonization and climate-mitigation policy
- weakensIndicatorGlobal CO2 emissions per capita
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). The Supreme Court stays the Clean Power Plan. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/us-obama-cpp-stay-2016
https://factrail.ai/facts/us-obama-cpp-stay-2016
Accessed 15 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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