US Court rules on delayed Clean Power Plan Project

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took a victory lap on the Senate floor Wednesday, following the Supreme Court’s decision to put the Obama administration’s emissions-reduction plan on hold.

“This is an exceedingly uncommon situation for the court to step in, and it jeopardises the plan all together from going into effect while President Obama remains in office”. He said Thursday that “science” is on his side and he’s confident that his administration’s rule is on legally the right path. More than 25 states have challenged the administration’s rules arguing they would be burdensome on the coal industry.

With the court staying the regulations, an inference could be drawn that the same shall not be implemented until a decision is arrived on its legality.

The plan has been temporarily blocked while 29 states – along with dozens of energy companies – are challenging the regulation in an appeals court. “His plan could lead to widespread job losses, stalled economic growth, and skyrocketing energy costs”. “The CPP’s unprecedented requirements have placed states in an untenable position relative to electricity generation, threatening energy affordability and reliability”, said Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Charles Snavely.

The US Supreme Court decided on February 9, 2016, to put a hold on US President Barack Obama’s ambitious Clean Power Plan. It requires that carbon dioxide emissions at existing power plants be reduced by 2030.

“A win implies that the advancement of the Clean Power Plan would have been detrimental to IN, and I think that’s not true”, says Jessie Kharbanda, executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council.

Implementation of the plan is also considered key to the United States meeting targets in a global climate agreement signed in Paris last month.

“And I hope its impact will begin to reverberate across the state”, said Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, “from the southern coalfields to North Central West Virginia, to the capital region, to metropolitan areas across the country that rely on clean, affordable coal”.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a temporary freeze on the plan’s implementation after a 5-4 majority vote.