The United States Supreme Court issued a stay blocking implementation of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan while a bipartisan coalition of 29 states and state agencies, including Arizona, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, challenge the regulation in federal court.
The Court put an immediate halt to the Obama Administration’s power plan as litigation continues in the D.C. Circuit Court. The states argue that the EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) rule fundamentally changes the nation’s energy policy in violation of federal law.
“This is a major victory for Americans who feared the loss of their jobs, not to mention anyone concerned over the potential of skyrocketing electric bills and the overall quality of our electric grid,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The Obama Administration clearly exceeded its authority in imposing this plan, which would cost taxpayers and consumers alike hard-earned money in exchange for less-reliable service.”
The D.C. Circuit Court will hear oral arguments on the merits of the states’ case on June 2. A final ruling from that court might not come for months, and without the stay the administration’s plan could have caused the destruction of untold numbers of jobs and the weakening of the nation’s electric grid.
Texas and West Virginia challenged the EPA’s power plan on Oct. 23, 2015, the day it was published. Those joining Attorney General Paxton and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately halt the EPA’s unlawful power plan include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming, along with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Mississippi Public Service Commission, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar stated that the decision “further solidifies the Obama Administration’s undisputed legacy of lawlessness. We can now add the Clean Power Plan to the long list of Obama’s executive actions rejected by federal courts. It is incomprehensible that this president has not learned by now that he cannot force his radical, unconstitutional environmental agenda onto the American people. Today’s decision makes it clear: Congress, not EPA bureaucrats at the behest of the president, should dictate our country’s environmental policies.’
“I am proud to stand with the 26 states fighting to protect good paying jobs from a misguided regulation that will have negligible effects on greenhouse gas emissions. As a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I am more emboldened than ever to put an end to the lawless ways of the EPA and the Obama Administration by defending commonsense policies that protect hard-working families and our nation’s energy security,” concluded Gosar.
According to Gosar, American families are projected to lose almost $600 billion in disposable income as a result of EPA’s “Clean Power Plant Rule”. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy, all of this economic harm and destruction for our economies will only result in a 1.8% reduction of global carbon-dioxide emissions by the year 2030.
On June 24, 2015, the House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act. Congressman Gosar offered an amendment to H.R. 2042, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which prevented states from being forced to comply with EPA’s Clean Power plan until after a comprehensive judicial review.
Gosar also offered an amendment to H.R. 2042 which required formal withdrawal of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan proposed rule published on June 18, 2014 and the supplemental proposed rule published on November 4, 2014. The amendment also required the EPA to consult with local governments and small businesses to commission a report on ways to further the goals of the Clean Air Act without new regulations and required legislation to be passed by Congress before any new regulations for power plants can be implemented.