White House Sees Greening Power Sector Even if Court Hobbles EPA

Powerful economic currents are already pushing electric utilities toward clean energy even if the U.S. Supreme Court hands down a ruling that limits the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases, National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy said Thursday.

Those trends could counterbalance a possible finding from the high court that the Environmental Protection Agency overreached in regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act.

The Supreme Court on Feb. 28 will start hearing arguments in West Virginia v. EPA, which seeks to limit how the EPA can ...