Fifteen States Seek to Block EPA’s Clean Carbon Plan

Fifteen state attorneys general petitioned a federal court in Washington on Thursday to block new U.S. rules to curb carbon emissions from power plants, in the first of several expected legal challenges to the Obama administration measure.

States that oppose the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan filed for the stay in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  The states asked for a ruling by Sept. 8, one year before they need to submit compliance plans to the EPA.

“This rule is the most far-reaching energy regulation in the nation’s history, and the EPA simply does not have the legal authority to carry it out,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said.
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Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming joined West Virginia in requesting the stay.

The EPA said on Thursday the Clean Power Plan would withstand legal challenges because it was based on a "sound legal and technical foundation."
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Attorneys general for 15 other states, including New York, California, Illinois and Oregon, along with New York City and the District of Columbia, issued a statement supporting the EPA rules and saying they would oppose legal efforts to block their implementation.

The EPA has not yet filed the rule in the Federal Register, at which point parties can begin to formally file lawsuits.

Read more at Fifteen States Seek to Block EPA’s Clean Carbon Plan