The federal rule could provide important benefits for New Jersey, including cleaner air and the reduced threat of flooding, one of the effects of climate change.
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The 24 states involved make it clear in documents filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals that EPA has no legal authority to enforce this rule.
Environmentalists say the new rule is a key way to fight climate change and that Georgia Attorney General Olens is stalling.
At a press event to announce the suit, both he and U.S. Sen.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called 111 (d) regulations, which for the first time puts national limits on carbon pollution, establishes final emission guidelines for states to follow in developing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units.
“There are many compelling legal reasons why this rule should be declared invalid”, Morrisey said.
In June, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals set aside that lawsuit, which was filed by 12 states including Alabama, because it was filed before the EPA had officially released its Clean Power Plan rule. The court had ruled they could not sue until the rules became official.
The solar industry stands ready to help deliver increasingly large amounts of clean electricity.
The petition for review marks the third legal challenge by Pruitt over the rule.
In a separate statement, Anna Aurilio, director of the Washington, D.C., office of Environment America, says, “No matter how deep the pockets of the polluters or how many lawsuits they or their government allies file, the Clean Power Plan will prevail, and if we’re going to ensure a safer climate for future generations, it must”. And it’s illegal because it requires states to regulate coal-fired plants under the Clean Air Act, even though the EPA is already doing it. It’s double regulation and prohibited under the act.
“It’s not that Montana is treated less fairly”, she said.
Most of the states opposed to the CPP have Republican legislative majorities, attorneys general or governors but there are exceptions. “And we’re proud we own part of Colstrip Unit 4”, she said. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has estimated Montanans could see their rates increase 20 percent by 2029. To date, all 50 states have demand-side energy efficiency programs, 37 have implemented renewable portfolio standards or goals, and 10 have adopted market-based greenhouse gas emissions programs.
White called the Clean Power Plan ‘all pain for no gain’.
“A dirty-energy alliance of coal companies, old-school utilities and their allies will rush to the courthouse with lawsuits stoked with hot rhetoric about its supposedly dire impacts”, Doniger said. The proposed federal implementation plan was also published in the Federal Register today and will be open for comment until January.
Despite the court challenges, most states have already begun making plans to comply with the EPA carbon rules. “Or you might invest in a natural gas plant, lower emitting”, said Donahue. “And then where will the electricity come from?”
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“Here’s what is lost in this Administration’s crusade for ideological purity: the livelihoods of our coal miners and their families”, Mr. McConnell said in a statement.
