Among incredibly stupid court opinions, overturning Chevron takes the cake
The US “Supreme” Court has just issued an opinion that would overturn Chevron v Natural Resources Defense Council, ensuring more government gridlock and casting activist judges in the place of career scientists to decide specific answers to some of the most crucial questions of the day, such as those related to climate emissions and other environmental issues.
Among many incredibly stupid opinions the court has issued recently, this is among the stupidest, and we’re going to go into why.
Just two days after issuing an opinion that would legalize the kind of corrupt bribes that they themselves have taken, and one day after once again ignoring the Clean Air Act and claiming that the federal government can’t regulate interstate emissions, the Court issued an opinion today in Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo that would invalidate a previous ruling, Chevron v Natural Resources Defense Council.
The original Chevron case was actually decided in favor of Chevron. Reagan’s EPA, which at the time was administered by Neil Gorsuch’s mother, Anne Gorsuch, had attempted to ease regulations on oil companies, which NRDC sued over. The court decided that the EPA’s interpretation would stand, giving Anne Gorsuch and the oil companies a big win.
The Chevron case created what’s called “Chevron deference,” which means that when a law is unclear in its details, courts should defer to reasonable interpretation of professionals in a government agency as to what those details mean. This doesn’t mean that agencies can make it up as they go along, just that they can fill in the blanks left by Congress.
In the last four decades, this ruling has become the foundation of much of administrative law in this country.
After all, legislators in Congress aren’t scientists, so will often pass a law saying something like “the EPA should regulate harmful air pollutants,” and leave it up to the EPA to decide what pollutants those are and how they should be regulated, and how those regulations should change over time.
Judges also aren’t scientists, so it’s reasonable for judges to defer to interpretation by professionals who have a lot of data and take a lot of time to craft specific regulations when they are told to do so by the legislature. In the course of crafting and updating those regulations, things will come up which were not anticipated by Congress, and someone needs to make that decision.
Agencies like EPA or NOAA, who work with some of the world’s most respected climate scientists, are a great place to go to find up to date recommendations and answers to those questions. And Chevron deference is what has allowed these agencies to work properly for the last several decades, and is what ensures they can continue to work as we confront climate change, the largest problem humanity has ever caused.
This sort of deference is essentially necessary for effective government. And any lawyer or law student can tell you how important it has been in establishing the last several decades of administrative law.
And it has benefitted electric vehicles, for example by allowing the EPA to set emissions rules that will save lives and money, or allowing the IRS to tweak guidance on the EV tax credit to make accessing it easier for consumers.
Without Chevron deference, it would mean that reasonable rules to smooth out implementation of laws can be challenged and reinterpreted by individual judges who are ignorant of the issues involved – and plaintiffs, likely in the form of a big polluting company who wants to skirt regulations to harm you more, can go forum shopping to find a specific judge who they know ahead of time will rule in their favor and against the public interest.
To be clear, Chevron deference only applies to situations where law is ambiguous, and where the agency’s interpretation was reasonable and arrived at through proper government processes – adhering to public comment requirements and the like. If an agency interpretation is arbitrary, it could still be thrown out. This is all covered in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and in previous court rulings narrowing Chevron.
Court’s opinion creates more gridlock, is “dictatorship from the bench”
But now, in the court’s opinion, the foundation of administrative law in this country for decades should all be gone. In Raimondo, the court opined on the validity of an NOAA regulation on the fishing industry. Lower courts in fact did not rely fully on Chevron deference in their rulings, finding that the statute was not ambiguous in the first place. But the Court took this opportunity to opine on Chevron anyway, despite its limited applicability to the facts of this case.
Under the Court’s opinion today, rather than unbiased career scientists weighing in on complex issues and helping to fill in the blanks that Congress didn’t anticipate or understand, that responsibility would now lie in the hands of oft-ignorant politically-appointed judges. These judges will be called on to make decisions on the suitability of specific regulations in any number of fields they are not qualified in: air quality, technology, labor regulations, tariff policy, farm subsidies, housing development, privacy, and many more issues that they know nothing about.
In short, it means more gridlock of the type Americans hate, and it means more “activist judges” that everyone claims to dislike. Even in the ideal situation envisioned by defenders of today’s decision, where a non-gridlocked Congress is able to quickly answer any agency question with a new law that the body comes together to agree upon, there will still be ambiguities and inefficiencies from having to consult another non-professional body for ambiguous scientific questions.
If you were tired of government waste and inefficiency, bogged-down court systems that take years to get anything done (in direct violation of the 6th amendment), then boy howdy, guess what’s coming next.
You know that “legislating from the bench” you’ve heard of? This is it, explicitly. The Court has opined that it should have final responsibility for crafting each and every regulation, even if it’s on a topic they know nothing about (or worse, maybe it’s a topic they have a direct personal interest in, and yet will rule on anyway).
It also means less participatory government. Agencies already were not allowed to go off script and make up whatever they wanted. Deference was only given if their interpretations were reasonable, were related to a question not answered explicitly in the law in question, and were arrived at after seeking comment from stakeholders (the public, industry, scientists, and so on). The Court could already throw out unreasonable interpretations or ones that engaged in arbitrary & capricious rulemaking (or the Court could just make up their own nonsense, as they’ve done before).
Now, the Court has officially interposed itself in front of the public and its elected officials in both the executive and legislative branches. Instead of voters, scientists, trade and public interest organizations, unions, and so on having a say, now it’s just an unelected court who will have their way – five of whom were appointed by people who lost their respective presidential elections, by ~500 thousand and ~3 million votes respectively.
Worse than “legislating from the bench,” this is a dictatorship of the bench. The bench has decided that theirs is the entire purview of both the executive and legislative branches.
And it was just waiting for a case where it could do so – because Neil Gorsuch (another illegitimate appointee, who wrote his own concurring opinion today) has wanted to overturn Chevron for a long time. He pre-judged this case long ago, well before the specifics of this case came along, and has just been waiting to implement his judgment. This is generally considered a violation of jurisprudence.
As has often recently been the case, the court shows complete ignorance of not only the legal and governmental issues that their opinion will cause, but ignorance of their own recent actions. Take this choice quote from today’s opinion:
Chevron insists on more than the “respect” historically given to Executive Branch interpretations; it demands that courts mechanically afford binding deference to agency interpretations, including those that have been inconsistent over time, see id., at 863, and even when a pre-existing judicial precedent holds that an ambiguous statute means something else, National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services, 545 U. S. 967, 982. That regime is the antithesis of the time honored approach the APA prescribes.
In this passage, John Roberts claims that agency interpretations are deficient because they are “inconsistent over time.” Nevermind that agency interpretations are necessarily inconsistent, given that the world and technology changes (e.g., as technology advances, more efficient vehicles become more practical and therefore tighter emissions limits become possible), but Roberts ignores his own court’s inconsistency on all sorts of matters in this passage.
His opinion would invalidate several decades of administrative law, and has left lawyers today wondering how it will even be possible to do their job with this grenade thrown right into the center of the field.
If a government body should have its toys taken away for inconsistency, then what Roberts is arguing here is that he himself should be ignored.
In that part of the opinion, at least, we agree. Roberts and his illegitimate court are the antithesis of effective government, and are not working in the interest of law and order or in favor of the public. Their opinions should be treated as just that – opinions, from private individuals who are clearly not interested in law or government.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
The stylish new electric sedan is the size of a Tesla Model 3, but it’s about half the cost at under $17,000. BYD’s Qin L EV is already off to a hot start, with over 10,000 sold in its first week on the market. Here’s a look at the new midsize model.
Meet BYD’s new Qin L EV
After launching the Qin L EV on March 24, BYD called it “the most attractive choice for young people in the era of intelligent driving.” Well, it’s already off to a good start.
The sleek new electric sedan starts at just 119,800 yuan, or roughly $16,500. That is nearly half the cost of a Tesla Model 3 in China, which starts at 235,500 yuan ($32,500).
At 4,720 mm long, 1,880 mm wide, 1,495 mm tall, and a wheelbase of 2,820 mm, the Qin L EV is a direct competitor to the Model 3 (4,720 mm long, 1,848 mm wide, and 1,442 mm tall, wheelbase of 2,875 mm) in China.
After just a week on the market, BYD’s new EV already looks like a hit. The company announced it sold over 10,000 Qin L EVs in its first week.
It’s available with two BYD Blade battery packs, 46.08 kWh and 56.64 kWh, providing 470 km (292 miles) and 545 km (338 miles) CLTC range. BYD says it can also fast charge (30% to 80%) in 24 minutes.
The cheapest Model 3 (RWD) in China is rated with up to 634 km (394 miles) on the CLTC rating scale. For 275,500 yuan ($38,000), the Extended Range Model 3 offers up to 713 km (443 miles).
Like all of its new EVs, the Qin L is equipped with BYD’s “God’s Eye” smart driving tech, which includes functions like navigation on autopilot and remote-control parking.
The interior is based on BYD’s refreshed design with a 15.6″ floating infotainment, 12″ W-HUD, and 8.8″ driver display screens. It also includes its premium DiLink 100 smart cockpit system with voice control, 5G connectivity, integrated DeepSeek AI, and more.
Higher-end trims even include a built-in mini fridge that can heat and cool. However, even the most expensive model starts at just 139,800 yuan ($19,300).
Would you buy BYD’s Qin L EV for under $20,000? It looks like a steal. Let us know what you think of it in the comments.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Drew Baglino, a long-time top executive at Tesla who exited last year, has launched a new energy startup: Heron Power.
Baglino was one of Tesla’s first employees. He worked closely with Tesla co-founder and long-time CTO JB Straubel before he left the executive team in 2019.
At that time, he became the defacto most senior engineering leader at the company and put in charge of batteries, motors, drive units, power electronics and our energy products – arguably the heart of Tesla’s business.
He worked 18 years at Tesla and was involved in many critical engineering projects at the company.
We reported that Baglino left in April 2024 amid a massive wave of layoffs at Tesla. It’s not clear if he was let go or if he quit, but it was a big loss for Tesla either way.
After a year under the radar, Baglino is now surfacing again with a new company: Heron Power.
According to a new report from Axios, the former Tesla engineering executive is behind the new startup developing solid-state transformers for the electric grid. The company is trying to raise between $30 million and $50 million for a Series A led by Capricorn Investment Group.
Transformers have seen little change over the last 100 years, and solid-state transformers, if they can be produced at a reasonable cost, have the potential of accelerating the grid’s transition to renewable energy.
Solid-state transformers offer more advanced capabilities than traditional transformers. They can regulate voltage fluctuations caused by solar panels and wind turbines, switch rapidly between different power sources, and are much more compact. Additionally, they can be actively controlled, which helps improve grid stability.
Considering part of Baglino’s job at Tesla was designing and producing advanced power electronics in high volumes, it sounds like it would be right up his alley.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
When I first looked at the JackRabbit XG Pro, my instinct was to take it somewhere wild. Sure, it’s designed to be a compact, fun-sized ride for urban zipping and off-road excursions — but what if I took it even further? What if I used it to tow a kayak… to the beach… and then paddled that kayak with the e-bike strapped to it to a deserted island to go camping?
Sometimes bad ideas turn into great stories. This was one of those.
You may recall that I recently covered the launch of this wild new micro e-bike (that technically isn’t a bicycle due to the lack of pedals, as my commentors will surely point out). The lightweight 35 lb (16.7 kg) ride can hit 20 mph – or 24 mph in off-road mode (32 to 39 km/h), and has 749 watts of power combined with 48 miles (77 km) of range.
So basically, it’s a lot of performance packed into the frame of something that feels and rides like a small-format throttle-controlled e-bike.
And at half the weight of most off-road e-bikes, this is just about the only one I could find that would be able to tow 100+ lb (45+ kg) of kayak and camping gear in off-road conditions, including uphill through sand, and still be small enough to then carry it on my kayak in open water. Or at least that was the plan, and I hoped it was going to work.
To see this crazy idea play out before your eyes, check out my video of the whole debacle. It’s a bit of an investment at 30 minutes, but word on the street is it’s worth it, and you’re probably running out of options on Netflix anyway.
Towing a kayak with a 37 lb micro e-bike
The JackRabbit XG Pro is often referred to as a “micro e-bike”, but it felt light a might micro e-bike pulling all my gear.
I attached a DIY trailer to my 10 ft sit-inside (shout-out to my dad, since I stole the trailer he built for his larger kayak to get it from the van to the boat ramp) and loaded up with enough gear to keep me comfortable for an overnight island camp.
Then I hit the road — a mix of beachside streets, bike paths, and some surprisingly rough off-road sections.
The bike never flinched. I was legitimately surprised because I had expected this to be a ‘pushing it to its limits’ situation but the JackRabbit XG Pro didn’t really care.
The only time I ever felt like I was pulling a trailer was during slow uphill sections when it would tend to wheelie due to the slow speed, high torque, and the 100 lb kayak pulling back on the seat post.
I kept speeds modest — around 5 to 8 mph (8-13 km/h) felt like the sweet spot before things got bouncy in the kayak filled with camping gear — but the e-bike never seemed to struggle.
Phase two: Packing the JackRabbit onto the kayak
Once I made it to the launch point after several miles of towing my kayak, it was time to test a theory I hadn’t actually tested: Can you fit the JackRabbit onto the bow of a sit-inside kayak and still paddle?
Turns out: kind of.
I broke the bike down as small as I could — batteries out, front wheel off, handlebars turned sideways — and lashed it to the bow. I had added a few tie down points to my kayak the night before to make this lashing process easier, and those definitely helped.
The trailer, wheel, and loose gear filled the rest of the space, and I wedged myself in around it all. Barely. I had to offload gear just to fit my legs in. After moving my tent, sleeping pad and a few other bits of gear to the stern to make more leg room, I finally managed to squeeze in. A quick drag down the waterline reminded me just how heavy the kayak had become, but there wasn’t any turning back now. It was either sink or swim. Or, well, hopefully neither.
Paddling into the unknown
Despite being comically overloaded, the kayak floated (barely), and I pushed off toward an uninhabited barrier island I’d scouted via satellite maps.
The paddle was a bit stressful at first until I was pretty sure the three inches (7.5 cm) of freeboard I had left was enough to keep me from capsizing. The wake thrown off from passing jet skis and pontoon boats made things exciting in all the wrong ways.
I paddled around for a while until I finally found the cut in the mangrove trees I had spotted via blurry satellite map, though it took me several false alarms as I discovered others so small they didn’t show up on the pixelated images.
When I finally found the right cut in the mangroves and slid into a coarse, natural sand ramp, the feeling was somewhere between “I can’t believe that worked” and “Oh no, now I have to unpack it all.”
Island life, e-bike style
I didn’t end up unpacking the bike at camp. It had taken a lot of effort to get it loaded and I could see the clearing I had spotted on the satellite images was only a short walk through the trees, so I stashed the boat and bike in the mangroves to keep them out of sight from the water and humped my gear the rest of the way.
I found the clearing, set up my tent, and cooked dinner over a twig-burning stove under the creeping suspicion that the Florida Skunk Ape was going to join me at any moment.
The moon was just a sliver that night, but I had a really cool 44-foot (13 meter) solar-powered string light that Biolite sent me and so I set that up for a little extra light as the sun went down. This area of Florida is under a burn ban right now, meaning open fires due to recent drought conditions leading to extra dry brush. I checked with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and confirmed I could use a camping stove, so between that small fire and the string light, I could see my way around my small camp at night. The two were just enough to illuminate all the rats that came out at dusk, who apparently had taken over the island.
I thought I had cleaned my mess kit well after dinner, but throughout the night I was listening to and watching through my tent mesh all of the rats rummaging through it and my bag.
While I had been looking forward to my morning coffee and oatmeal, that pretty much made the decision right there that I’d have to skip it and go for the granola bar I had safely tucked away with me in my tent.
The rats aren’t dangerous by themselves but they do carry diseases and so I wasn’t going to be using that cooking gear until I had a chance to clean it thoroughly.
The ride back: Just as wild
Packing everything back up was just as tight the second time. I loaded everything back into kayak and after one last look at the beautiful sunrise, I pushed off into the open water of the Gulf of Mexico.
I had considered a longer paddle that would cut down the road segment of my ride, but once I got out in the deeper water and the waves picked up, I quickly called an audible and realized I shouldn’t mind the extra miles on the road since drowning in asphalt is a lot less likely.
I beelined it for the coast and have never been happier to hear the crunch of sand under my bow as I beached the kayak for the last time of the trip.
Back on the sand, I hopped out and strapped the kayak to the trailer, reloaded the bike, and cruised back down the highway and into the nearest beach town — tired, sore, a little sunburned, but incredibly satisfied.
The JackRabbit XG Pro isn’t meant for towing a kayak to a beach and then sailing away with it. But that’s what makes this microbike such a fun tool. It’s small, but mighty. Weirdly capable. Surprisingly rugged.
It’s true that JackRabbit’s tiny e-bikes are a favorite among boaters for taking up such little room on a boat, though I think this might be the smallest vessel anyone has ever brought one on. They’re also popular in the light airplane and RV community for the same reason – e-bike-sized wheels for riding around when you get to your destination.
Would I recommend repeating this trip? Only if you enjoy problem-solving on the fly, questionable decision-making, and the occasional kayak-side existential crisis. But yes — it was absolutely worth it.
And considering this is about the worst case scenario for portability and power in a small e-bike, most people should find the JackRabbit XG Pro more than capable of a daily commute or a fun off-road adventure.
What do you think? Would you ever want to try a trip like this? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comment section below. And before you go, check out my video review of the JackRabbit XG Pro below, which stayed (mostly) on dry land. Or check out my full kayak towing/paddling adventure video here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway