WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey promised another win against EPA after his successful Supreme Court takedown of the Obama Clean Power Plan
By Lesley Clark, Niina H. Farah | E&E News 05/09/2024
Twenty-five Republican-led states on Thursday kicked off the latest legal fight over the Biden administration’s rule to tackle the second-largest U.S. source of planet-warming emissions.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sets up a familiar rematch between the nation’s leading environmental regulator and a host of red states that have challenged Biden initiatives and scored a major win at the Supreme Court in 2022 that limited EPA’s climate authority.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican who led the Supreme Court challenge to the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, on Thursday promised a repeat courtroom victory against EPA and its new rule targeting emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and new gas facilities.
Related news:
Morrisey leads GOP gubernatorial hopefuls
“This rule strips the states of important discretion while using technologies that don’t work in the real world — this administration packaged this rule with several other rules aimed at destroying traditional energy providers,” Morrisey said in a statement. “We are confident we will once again prevail in court against this rogue agency.”
The states also plan to ask the D.C. Circuit to temporarily stop President Joe Biden’s power plant rule from going into effect, Morrisey’s office said.
The state coalition, also led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, filed the lawsuit as soon as it was possible — the same day the final version of the rule was published in the Federal Register.
If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
