Obama, EPA Defend Clean Power Plan Against States’ Challenge
By Andrew M. Harris, Bloomberg Business.
The Obama administration has called a multistate effort to delay its 15-year plan to reduce carbon emissions “premature” and “unwarranted.” The states face no irreparable harm from the deadlines proposed in the Clean Power Plan, the government said in court papers filed on Monday.
The new regulations, announced by the administration and the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month, aim to slow climate change by dropping U.S. power plant carbon dioxide emissions 32 percent below their 2005 levels by 2030.
Fifteen states, led by West Virginia, asked a federal court in Washington to issue an order delaying deadlines for submission of their plans to reach that objective. The new regulations give the EPA authority to impose its own regime on states that fail to comply.