“There really is no overstating how big this year is for climate change”, McDonough said Wednesday at a Washington forum on the issue hosted by the New Republic. After six different legal challenges to the plan by a variety of states and private-sector energy companies were tossed out of court, the Natural Resources Defense Council declared “polluters and their allies are now batting 0 for 6”.
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Oklahoma is taking a stand against the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which threatens the state’s energy economy. Our analysis indicates that such an extension is not needed, as states are already on track to cut their emissions through actions they’ve put in place like state renewable energy and energy efficiency standards, and coal plant retirements. Implementing our state specific Clean Power Plan is another chance to demonstrate our foresight into the direction of the market.
Laurence Tribe, a Harvard professor of constitutional law told a House committee in March: “EPA is attempting an unconstitutional trifecta: usurping the prerogatives of the states, Congress and the federal courts – all at once”. “The “just say no” strategy for West Virginia, while politically popular, does a disservice to the citizens of West Virginia”.
Under the Clean Power Plan, Indiana is expected to reduce carbon emissions 20 percent by 2030.
The final plan will be released August 3, 2015, according to an EPA timeline obtained by EnergyWire that was posted to an EPA website.
Many observers seem to agree that one thing the EPA is likely to do in its final version is give states more time to draw up compliance plans.
Finally, challengers may assert that EPA’s factual determinations are “arbitrary and capricious” or so clearly wrong they must be overturned.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s plan establishes pollution standards for existing power plants, for the first time limiting the amount of carbon dioxide they can pump into the air. That presented a risk of too-rapid shifts in the generation mix before the resources are ready, he said. This study is the second one in a number of days to spell out how complying with the rule could end up saving customers money on their energy bills.
“The proposal is fundamentally, and fatally, flawed”, the DEP comments said.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, has not yet said if he will go along with a proposal from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to simply boycott the EPA final rule by refusing to submit a state compliance plan.
On May 1, Fallin vetoed a bill that would have required the state to develop an implementation plan subject to approval by the state’s attorney general.
Although the 2011 rule-known as Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CASPR)-remains intact, Judge Brett Kavanaugh said the court expects the agency to “move promptly” and not “drag its feet” in coming up with new budgets. This year’s legislation mandates that the entire compliance plan receive legislative approval as a package, Durham said.
A federal court dismissed the lawsuit, deciding the challenge was premature as the rule has not been finalized yet. The National Mining Association hasn’t received any indication, while other lobbyists say they are getting indications from the administration, that carbon capture is out. The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for example, has said the warming of the planet is “unequivocal”, citing a range of evidence that includes temperature measurements, melting glaciers, declining sea ice and increased concentrations of greenhouse gases. The EPA’s plan doesn’t even make a dent in the global increase in carbon emissions, much less lead to any global decrease.
Jeremy Richardson, a West Virginia native from a coal-mining family who is now a senior energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, agreed.
Furthermore, jettisoning the mandate would have consequences for Obama’s climate efforts, both practical and political, she said.
Slone explained: “China, India and the rest of emerging Asia are building their economies on fossil fuels generally and coal specifically, which they view as their most affordable, reliable and secure energy option”, …
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This article was written by Ken Ward Jr. from The Charleston Gazette, W.Va. and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
