Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on behalf of Arizona’s Corporation Commission, joined 25 other states today in filing a lawsuit against the EPA for exceeding its authority in issuing new regulations that set strict limits on carbon emissions for each state. The parties are asking the federal court to issue a stay until the court decides on the legality of the rule.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.
The lawsuit has bipartisan support. Brnovich a republican is joined by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, a democrat, and attorneys general from West Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Koster said he supports Missouri’s ongoing efforts to produce energy more cleanly and efficiently, but that EPA’s plan sets a compliance schedule that is economically risky and robs Missouri of its competitive advantage in low consumer and industrial electrical rates.
“Cleaner energy production is an important goal,” Koster said, “and one Missouri’s energy producers are already working toward.” Koster observed that over the past decade Missouri utilities have added more than 2,200 megawatts of generating capacity from wind power and other renewable resources.
Despite this progress, Koster noted that Missouri’s energy producers estimate that complying with EPA’s deadlines would cost the state more than $6 billion. He argued that Missouri is better off maintaining the competitive advantage it enjoys through low-energy costs while continuing to develop low- and zero-emission sources of energy on a more reasonable timeline. “Renewable energy is a vital piece of our state’s energy portfolio,” Koster said. “It is essential, however, that we achieve this goal in an economically responsible way that makes sense for Missouri.”
Koster also emphasized that Missouri’s recent history with EPA justifies skepticism when EPA creates sweeping regulatory schemes imposing new obligations on Missouri residents and businesses. During Koster’s tenure as Attorney General, Missouri successfully challenged new EPA regulations regarding mercury emissions and water rules, arguing in each case that EPA unlawfully encroached on Missouri’s sovereign authority to regulate its air and water.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement on Friday complaining of the federal overreach. “The EPA’s latest power grab – disguised as a ‘Clean Power Plan’ – takes already burdensome federal regulations a step further by driving up energy costs, stagnating job growth, threatening the reliability of our electric grid and treading all over the State of Texas’ sovereignty,” said Governor Abbott. “With seemingly no concept of what it costs to support a family, start a business or save for retirement, the federal government has yet again proven its readiness to sacrifice American jobs in the name of expanding bureaucratic authority and pushing its liberal agenda. I applaud the Attorney General’s challenge to the Clean Power Plan and offer my full support for all efforts to fight federal government overreach.”
As Governor, Greg Abbott has repeatedly defended the State of Texas and its sovereignty against constant overreach by the Obama Administration and an ever-expanding EPA. Since taking office, he has signed a multi-state letter calling on the agency to refrain from issuing new ozone standards that would stifle economic growth and job creation, submitted comments challenging the EPA’s proposed “regional haze” rule as unlawful and unconstitutional, and as Attorney General, he filed litigation and took all necessary legal action to rein in the agency and its out-of-control regulations.