DC Court Throws Out the First Challenge to the Clean Power Plan
The Obama administration’s historic initiative to curb greenhouse gas pollution from existing power plants survived its first legal attack yesterday, but also got some harsh criticism from utility industry executives.
A federal court of appeals in Washington dismissed a case brought by more than a dozen of the country’s largest coal companies and coal-producing states that sought to block implementation the U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). Under the proposed rule, states would have to meet different emissions targets based on their regional generation mix in order to achieve an overall 30 percent emissions cut from 2005 levels by 2030, with an average interim reduction target of 25 percent between 2020 and 2029.
Opponents say the rule would freeze demand for coal production and lead to the shuttering of hundreds of coal plants. Many detractors say it’s also an example of gross federal overreach.
