Supreme Court Halts Obama Power Plant ‘Power Grab’

Announced in its final form last August, the Clean Power Plan aims to reduce heat-trapping carbon pollution from power plants, which the EPA says generate 32 percent of total carbon emissions.

“While there is much more work to do, this important ruling is the first step to restoring coal as the affordable, reliable electricity source that has powered both Kentucky and this country”, said Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association. 24 states, including Utah, asked the Court to block the enforcement of the new rule pending various legal challenges.

He added: “We are thrilled that the Supreme Court realized the rule’s immediate impact and froze its implementation, protecting workers and saving countless dollars as our fight against its legality continues”.

The state plan is being hashed out by the Clean Power Plan Shareholders Group, which includes power company representatives, environmentalists and state officials.

U.S. President Barack Obama looks up as he arrives to speak to supporters and volunteers at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield, Illinois, Feb. 10, 2016. “We believe there is a very real likelihood of success on the merits”.

Dominion Virginia Power also said it will “continue to move forward to comply with the Clean Power Plan”.

“One of the reasons I want to talk about this is because in the last couple of days I’ve heard people say, “The Supreme Court struck down the clean power plant rule”, Obama said. USA leadership has been vital to gaining meaningful commitments from the world’s largest economies, and the Clean Power Plan is central to that leadership.

“We’ll see what the Supreme Court ultimately decides”, McConnell said Wednesday.

A hearing is set in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in June for the challenges mounted by Kentucky and other states.

“It’s a stunning development”, Jody Freeman, a Harvard law professor and former environmental legal counsel to the Obama administration, said in an email.

State Attorney General Ken Paxton is hailing the Supreme Court’s stay of the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan.