Reality tempers optimism in coal country after court ruling

The Supreme Court’s decision to stay the Environmental Protection Agency’s new power-plant regulations is a disturbing signal that it might eventually kill them altogether.

The Mountain State’s coal industry and its supporters applauded the Supreme Court’s decision. The appeals court unanimously denied the states’ request to stay the rule.

Varner says Tomblin is pleased with the stay.

But environmentalists and academic experts are more nervous.

We hope future generations won’t look at this missed opportunity to reduce carbon emissions from power plants as the moment the world snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

“Electric utilities are investing in clean energy and pursuing energy efficiency”, Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn told a conference of investors last week after the Supreme Court’s stay was announced, the Washington Post reported. The Clean Power Plan has a goal of reducing power plant emissions from power plants by 32 percent by 2030 in comparison to the levels in 2005. States that like the Clean Power Plan will continue their work on meeting the targets; states that don’t like it, including most of those that are suing the EPA, won’t.

“The Clean Power Plan is based on a strong legal and technical foundation, gives States the time and flexibility they need to develop tailored, cost-effective plans to reduce their emissions, and will deliver better air quality, improved public health, clean energy investment and jobs across the country, and major progress in our efforts to confront the risks posed by climate change“, the statement says.

A stay would “irreparably undermine the global commitments and momentum to finally begin curbing the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving extremely risky climate change across the globe”, Albright concluded. The EPA will not be able to do anything but cooperate with states that voluntarily seek to cut greenhouse gases to prepare for the eventuality that the Clean Power Plan is implemented.

In 2009, Jackson was speaking when the US was gripped by recession, and there would have been much more resistance to pushing more expensive green energy sources. It’s also a keystone in the far-reaching worldwide accord to tackle climate change, reached in Paris in December.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Wednesday that leaders in the countries participating in the agreement understand that the rulemaking process in the U.S.is often complicated and litigious.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled to temporarily block the plan.

“If that was the amount of money to get this done in the time frame we thought we were going to operate under, I certainly don’t think that same amount of money is necessary”, Mead said, before noting he has yet to take up the matter with DEQ. He said the extensions of solar and wind tax credits in this year’s budget will be critical in helping the USA meet its commitments.

The issue in the Clean Power Plan case is the constitutional limits of executive power.

The congressional Republicans were pleased with the court was confirmed to halt the rule and they expressed their approval after the decision was announced. This reduction in the use of coal-powered energy would cause a hard hit to coal mines throughout the United States. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast.

“This rule represents a radical transformation of American energy policy and will have a sweeping impact on the American way of life”, Morrisey said.