How the Supreme Court will handle decisions with Scalia gone and only eight sitting justices

With Antonin Scalia gone from the Supreme Court, there will be only eight justices until his replacement is nominated and confirmed. If the court splits 4-4 over a decision, the lower court ruling will be upheld without new precedent being set.

Scalia wasn’t completely anti-environment but he did effectively weaken several important environmental protections during his term. His absence makes it less likely that Pres. Obama’s Clean Power Plan will be aggressively challenged.

More here