March 1, 2024 - Mitch McConnell has transformed environmental law the same way he shook up abortion policy — by propelling the judiciary to the right.

The Kentucky Republican — who announced Wednesday that he will not seek another term as the Senate GOP leader — helped former President Donald Trump get a supermajority at the Supreme Court. And that has had a huge impact on a host of environmental protections, as Emma Dumain and I wrote today.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) walks to his office at the Capitol on Wednesday.

Photo: Francis Chung/POLITICO

The high court’s six conservatives have trimmed back the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plants and water pollution. This term, it could go further and limit the Chevron doctrine, a 40-year-old legal precedent that tells courts to defer to federal agencies interpretation of ambiguous laws. That, in turn, could fuel legal challenges on the rules that underpin the Biden administration’s climate agenda.

McConnell has also spent his 17 years as the GOP leader defending the coal industry, which is still a large part of Kentucky’s economy, by fighting regulations to limit power plant pollution and strengthen protections for waterways near coal mines.

“He’s fought for decades to keep those industries alive,” said Neil Chatterjee, a former chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and an ex-McConnell aide. “If you look at the mix in the region, coal still plays a big role there. I think he’s been very effective.”

The three likely contenders to succeed McConnell all have similar records on energy, and energy policy isn’t expected to change much.

All also hail from major energy-producing states: Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), the current minority whip; John Cornyn (R-Texas), the former minority whip; and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the chair of the Senate Republican Conference and ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Like McConnell, they are also fiercely protective of fossil fuel industries and quick to accuse Democrats of a “radical” environmental agenda.

Greens don’t like any of them.

Tiernan Sittenfeld of the League of Conservation Voters called the environmental voting records of all four lawmakers “appalling.”

“There’s no material difference between any of them,” she said.

McConnell, however, did distinguish himself from the three Johns — their nickname on Capitol Hill — by siding with Democrats on occasion.

He was the only one of the group to vote for the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure. Along with Cornyn, McConnell also voted for the CHIPS and Science Act; Thune and Barrasso did not.

“We’ve worked well on energy issues — you know, he’s from Kentucky, I’m West Virginia, so we’re neighbors,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a fossil fuel ally who chairs the Senate Energy Committee. “We have the same concerns and everything, same values. … We’ve pretty much been lockstep on energy.”

So far, Cornyn is the only one to say he’s running. Neither Barrasso nor Thune has ruled it out.