Obama’s clean power plan gets shelved by corporatists on the Supreme Court

The court is scheduled to hear arguments in June, while the states are supposed to have their implementation plans to the EPA by September.

“The President’s Clean Power Plan has major potential for devastation, not the least of which includes killing thousands of jobs and raising electricity prices for American families”.

Many states opposing the plan depend on economic activity tied to such fossil fuels as coal, oil and gas.

“Pennsylvania will continue planning and engagement with stakeholders on the Clean Power Plan, pending final decision of this issue by the Supreme Court”, said DEP spokesman Neil Shader. 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. It is disappointing that the Supreme Court has delayed progress on regulating emission standards.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, whose coal-dependent state is helping lead the legal fight, hailed the court’s decision.

The United States signed an agreement in Paris regarding issues of emission-reduction which is aimed globally.

The long-term extension of the tax credits for renewable energy previous year will continue to provide momentum that will transition the power sector toward cleaner sources of energy, Schultz said. The White House’s press secretary, Josh Earnest, said the plan is based on “a strong legal and technical foundation”, and gives states both the time and flexibility needed to develop tailored, cost-effective plans to reduce their emissions.

“Over and over again, the current federal administration-and particularly the EPA-has been ignoring state sovereignty and the rule of law”, said Coffman this week. The plan calls for a decrease in carbon emissions by 2030, and many states have already begun forming compliance plans to send to the Environmental Protection Agency ahead of the regulations’ implementation.

At the fundraiser, Obama also called the court’s decision “unusual”.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan would have denied the request for delay.