The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked enforcement of the Obama administration’s ambitious new plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The Clean Power Plan requires states to file their own plans and sets a goal of reducing carbon emissions 26 percent by 2025, as the USA pledged in recent talks in Paris.
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Methane is “the next big opportunity”, Sierra Club’s Hitt said.
In their legal challenge, utilities, coal miners and more than two dozen states say the EPA overstepped its authority and intruded on states’ rights.
They are concerned that any significant pause in implementing mandated reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants will imperil the credibility of the Unites States to lead on climate change, while increasing worries both at home and overseas that the whole worldwide agreement might unravel if a Republican wins the White House in November.
“DEP is still preparing a plan to present to EPA once the legal issues are resolved”, said Neil Shader, a spokesman for the department. To not do so would mean that these states would be forced to spend money and move forward with implementation even while they fought legally to reverse the order.
“I could not be prouder of our efforts to mobilize 200 nations around the world to say, ‘This is a problem, ‘” Mr. Obama said.
Vanessa Zboreak, a CEES faculty affiliate who teaches Sustainability Law and Policy at Wake Forest, said the states already committed are likely to continue planning while the substantive litigation over the rule plays out.
“I’ve repeatedly invited (EPA Administrator) Gina McCarthy and the president to my home state to see the devastation firsthand”, McConnell said.
Brouwer, whose group represents renewable-power businesses, said he still thinks Montana needs a clean-energy plan, because consumers in Montana and elsewhere want more clean power. “Smart industry, financial, and governmental leaders will not count the Clean Power Plan out”.
Schultz said the US would continue to take aggressive steps to continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, citing other regulations it has put in place to reduce emissions from automobiles, airplanes and the oil and gas sector.
The petition went first to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia where a three-judge panel denied the stay.
U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) issued the following statement after the Supreme Court’s stay of the so-called “Clean Power Plan”.
“This is a remarkable and horrifying fact”, she continued. “If a stay of the Clean Power Plan is granted, there is a real threat that some other countries, including major emitters, might reduce the intensity or pace of their actions or even fail to achieve their commitments”.
For now, the plan will now be on hold until the Supreme Court either rules or refuses to get involved.
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Company spokeswoman Jennifer Young said FirstEnergy would still work with states if they choose to develop compliance plans while the rule is stuck in court, but said it won’t have a handle of how the regulation will impact its operations until the state plans are approved by the EPA.
