U.S. Supreme Court Puts The Breaks On Obama’s Clean Power Plan

The Supreme Court has its judges divided as they vote 5-4 against Presidents Obama’s new power plant regulation. He also said that the president’s plan has a strong and legal foundation and they promise to take every possible steps to ensure that this plan will move forward.

The president on Thursday argued that the Court has previously ruled the Environmental Protection Agency is required to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act if it causes damage to public health, citing a decision from 2007.

The Obama administration’s plan aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at existing power plants by around one-third by 2030. It is the main tool for the United States to meet the emissions reduction target it pledged at U.N. climate talks in Paris in December.

“Pennsylvania will continue planning and engagement with stakeholders on the Clean Power Plan, pending final decision of this issue by the Supreme Court”, Sheridan wrote in an email to StateImpact.

“There were many positive things going on before the Clean Power Plan was announced, like the growth of solar in Georgia, and I think those things are going to continue even while the rule is stayed”. The states said the emissions curbs would have a devastating impact on their economies.

West Virginia’s Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said the ruling protects workers while “saving countless dollars”. A lower court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, is due to hear arguments in the case in June, and the Supreme Court itself could end up considering the matter later.

The Obama Administration believed the mandate would reduce carbon dioxide pollution by an estimated 870 million tons and turn the USA into a global leader in the fight against climate change – a goal conservatives appear to be hellbent on destroying.

The decision is a big victory for the coalition of 27 mostly Republican-led states and industry opponents who call the regulations “an unprecedented power grab”. But a decision could be long in coming, particularly if the case winds up in the Supreme Court – meaning that the rules’ fate might not be determined before a new presidential administration comes into power in 2017. The stay freezes the plan until all legal challenges are resolved. The high court’s four liberal justices said Tuesday they would have denied the request for delay.

Now the EPA will not impose the September 2016 deadline on states.