Coal news and updates

At last, the Clean Power Plan has had its day in court. On Tuesday, 10 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard nearly seven hours of oral argument—twice the scheduled time—in the case challenging EPA’s first-ever limits on carbon pollution from the nation’s 1,000 coal- and gas-fired power plants. Attorneys representing the Environmental Protection Agency, supportive power companies, states, and environmental organizations robustly defended the reasonableness of the Clean Power Plan and its firm grounding in the Clean Air Act.

 

Throughout the full day of active questioning, the well-prepared judges dug deeply into the challengers’ legal arguments and EPA’s supporting record. It’s always unwise to predict the outcome of a case based on oral argument alone, or to guess which way a particular judge will decide based on particular questions asked. But the oral argument shows that the court had a strong grasp of critical issues in the case, and we are optimistic about the outcome. 

For years, the Clean Power Plan’s foes have fought to block every effort to limit carbon pollution. The Supreme Court, however, has repeatedly held that EPA has the duty to curb climate-damaging pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The challengers have shifted their positions after each case, arguing that whatever EPA proposes, always carbon pollution can be regulated only in some other way under some other provision, or not at all. The judges seemed wise to this shell game in Tuesday’s argument.

SOurce:NRDC.ORG