Court Upholds Massachusetts' Authority to Cap Power Plant CO2 Emissions

While the Trump administration tries to roll back pollution controls, states are setting their own climate change rules in a shift toward cleaner energy.

Massachusetts' highest court on Tuesday resoundingly upheld the state's power to impose limits on carbon emissions from power plants.

It's the latest example of states establishing their authority to fill the regulatory void the Trump administration is creating as it moves to roll back the Clean Power Plan and other federal climate regulations.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection finalized rules last year to require power plants within the state's borders to reduce their emissions annually, amounting to a 7 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from current levels by 2020 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050.  It is one of a suite of clean energy and pollution control policies state officials have put into place under the Global Warming Solutions Act, signed into law by then-Gov. Deval Patrick in 2008.

Read more at Court Upholds Massachusetts' Authority to Cap Power Plant CO2 Emissions