WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2016 - In a 5-4 decision Tuesday, the
Supreme Court ordered a halt to enforcement of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) until
legal challenges are resolved. Twenty-seven states have challenged the CPP in
court, arguing that the plan oversteps federal authority to limit carbon
emissions and that they would have to invest billions of dollars to comply.
States aren’t required to comply with the new rules until
2022, but must submit their plans to the Environmental Protection
Administration by September or seek an extension.
The D.C. Circuit Court is slated to review the merits of the
many lawsuits challenging the plan on June 2.
The plan would impose carbon dioxide emissions limits for
the first time on existing power plants. The plan also gives the states wide
leeway on how to reduce CO2 emissions, and EPA has said “sustainably-derived
agricultural and forest biomass feedstocks” are acceptable for use in state
plans to reduce CO2. The new rules are considered essential to the United
States meeting emissions-reduction targets in a global climate agreement signed
in Paris last month.
U.S. Sen. John Thune, R- S.D., welcomed the Supreme Court’s
decision. “Even after Congress and the American people rejected Obama’s
national energy tax, he still chose to move forward with his far-reaching
regulations regardless of the effect on family budgets. The result of the
president’s determination to circumvent Congress and appease international
negotiators in Paris is a paper-thin legacy composed of executive actions like
his expensive regulations on affordable energy that risk being overturned in
the future.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration
will continue to "take aggressive steps to make forward progress to reduce
carbon emissions."
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