A federal appeals court on Friday unanimously denied a lawsuit brought by a coalition of Republican attorneys general and the fossil fuel industry that sought to block Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pollution standards for power plants.
The three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the EPA on standards required by the Clean Air Act, which regulates emissions from fossil fuel-powered power plants.
The EPA unveiled the new standards in April, nearly two years after the Supreme Court blocked the Obama-era version of the plan. Twenty-seven Republican state attorneys general filed a lawsuit asking to halt the plan, citing the Supreme Court ruling.
In its ruling, the panel disagreed, writing that “petitioners have not demonstrated that they are likely to succeed in [their] claims given the record in this case. This case also does not implicate an important issue under West Virginia v. EPA… because EPA claimed only the power to ‘establish emission limits under Section 111 based on the application of measures that would reduce pollution by causing the regulated source to operate more cleanly[,]’ a type of conduct that falls well within the EPA’s bailiwick.”
The Environmental Defense Fund [EDF]who filed an amicus curie brief in support of the EPA, praised the decision.
“Climate change is here and it is harming us all. Americans across the country are suffering from intense heat waves, extreme storms and flooding, and increased wildfires caused by climate pollution,” Vickie Patton, EDF general counsel, said in a statement. “The EPA has a legal responsibility, mandated by Congress, to control harmful climate pollution, which the court recognized today. We will continue to strongly advocate for EPA’s achievable and cost-effective carbon pollution standards for power plants.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey’s (R) office vowed to appeal the suspension to the Supreme Court in a statement to The Hill.
“Our position remains the same: this rule strips states of important discretion when using technologies that don’t work in the real world. To make the lawlessness worse, the Biden administration bundled this rule with several other rules designed to destroy traditional energy providers,” Morrissey said in a statement. “We plan to seek a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court as soon as possible.”
The decision comes a month after the Supreme Court annulled the so-called Chevron doctrine, which gave federal agencies broad discretion in interpreting the law.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
