The United States Supreme Court has curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s authority to protect wetlands from pollution, a ruling that some experts and justices say goes too far by positioning the court as “the national decision-maker on environmental policy.” On May 25, the court ruled that only wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to larger streams, lakes, and rivers fall under federal protection. This is the second major legal blow to the federal government’s powers for environmental protection, after last year’s SCOTUS decision that the Clean Air Act does not grant the EPA broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming.