EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey, along with the AGs of Kentucky and Indiana, are leading a coalition of 28 states in providing comments to the Environmental Protection Agency to support a proposed rule that would eliminate harmful greenhouse gas emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants.
The AGs say the Biden administration rule jeopardized America’s energy independence and caused prices to skyrocket for American families.
They sent the letter August 7 to EPA Administrator Lee M. Zeldin.
McCuskey
“For years, the EPA has sought to regulate the coal industry out of existence through oppressive emission controls,” McCuskey said. “The rule was rooted in climate extremism and little science. But finally, we have an EPA that is taking bold action to return to the real meaning of the Clean Air Act.
“We are proud to lead the effort to stand up for the repeal of this rule which will continue to protect our environment, while allowing our energy sector to flourish.”
The AGs say the EPA has sought to use “aggressive emission rules to press coal-fired power plants into retirement since the early days of the Obama administration.”
West Virginia previously led successful challenges to those actions, and its view ultimately prevailed before the Supreme Court in West Virginia v. EPA.
The AGs say this Biden-era rule was another unlawful attempt to weaponize the Clean Air Act against the EPA and evade the Supreme Court’s decision. West Virginia thus led a 25-state coalition in challenging the Biden iteration that EPA is now proposing to repeal.
“As states, we take seriously both our traditional authority in energy regulation and our statutory role within the cooperative federalism framework of the Clean Air Act,” the letter from the AGs states. “But under the past administration, that authority was thwarted.
“The Proposed Rule will restore the Clean Air Act to its proper meaning and help states secure affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible energy for everyone.”
Attorneys General from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming joined the comments led by McCuskey, Indiana AG Todd Rokita and Kentucky AG Russell Coleman.
