GOP-led states sue over pollution rules
Officials target regulations that could end use of coal to produce power
Twenty-five Republicanled states have filed a legal challenge to new federal regulations on air pollution from power plants.
The new rule, announced last month, would likely end burning coal for power in the United States over the next 15 years and make it significantly harder for utilities to continue using natural gas.
Coal and natural gas are nonrenewable fossil fuels that contribute to climate change, and the rule was hailed by environmentalists and assailed by utilities.
The appeal, filed Thursday, is only about a page long and makes no detailed argument against the rule other than to say it is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law.”
It was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which issued the rule, declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Georgia Power, which recently won approval from state regulators to add more fossil fuelfired power generation to its fleet.
In a statement, Carr said the new rule includes costly, unattainable standards and unrealistic deadlines.
“Our economy depends on safe, reliable and affordable energy, and we won’t stand by while D.C. activists further burden families and businesses throughout our state,” the statement said.
It also referenced a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court limiting the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
But Gudrun Thompson, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the new regulation stands on “firm legal footing.”
“It is unfortunate that some state attorneys general are wasting taxpayer dollars on a meritless challenge to the rule, instead of rolling up their sleeves to help get these safeguards implemented to protect communities in their states from fossil fuel pollution,” she said in a statement.
The new rules require existing coal-fired plants and new natural gas-fired plants to control 90% of their carbon pollution by 2032.
Rules for existing gasfired plants are still being developed.
The recent changes also included stricter regulations on the handling of coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that contains toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.
Georgia Power and state regulators were already under scrutiny by the EPA for a plan to dispose of tons of coal ash in unlined ponds.
Also on Thursday, Reuters reported that the states of Kansas and Ohio filed a separate legal challenge to the EPA emissions rules, as did the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which represents about 900 local electrical coops.