TX and W. Virginia AG’s Ask Federal Court To Halt Unconstitutional EPA Power Plan

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey today asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new carbon rule. In the reply brief filed today, the attorneys general are asking for a stay of the rule and expedited consideration of the request.

“This unlawful power plan is an unprecedented attempt by the EPA to force President Obama’s radical climate agenda on the nation,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The far-reaching and irreversible consequences of this 1560-page regulation would wreak havoc on hardworking families by dramatically increasing electric bills, killing jobs and threatening the reliability of the electric grid. The Obama Administration has once again overstepped its bounds, and we will continue to vigorously oppose this new rule.”

The EPA is seeking to reduce carbon emissions from electric-generating plants by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. To achieve these reductions, the EPA will require states to shut down coal plants prematurely and invest billions of dollars in new renewable generation.

Attorneys General Paxton and Morrisey lead petitioners from 25 states against the EPA’s unlawful power plan, including: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

To view the reply brief in support of motion for stay, please visit: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/epress/122315CarbonRule.pdf