25 Attorneys General Ask SCOTUS to Halt EPA Rule

As President Biden pushes ahead with his aggressive green energy agenda, 25 state attorneys general are asking the Supreme Court to intervene. They want the high court to block the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing draconian carbon dioxide regulations that critics say would drive up electricity prices and increase the risk of blackouts.

“This legislation threatens to have a significant impact on our state’s energy costs and reliability by mandating technologies that are currently impractical and costly for our power plants to implement,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, one of the panelists.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s “Clean Power Plan 2.0” carbon regulations require existing coal-fired power plants and new gas-fired power plants to implement carbon capture and storage at a 90% capture rate by 2032. There are no operating power plants that meet this requirement.

As a result, critics warn, the availability of baseload electricity across the country could decline even as electricity demand due to renewable energy mandates soars.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last month that the EPA can proceed with its regulation, rejecting the argument that the case raises a “major question” issue. Under the “major question” doctrine, significant changes in public policy cannot be made by regulators through policy changes. Such decisions require an act of Congress.

America’s Power, which represents the coal industry, and the National Mining Association filed a motion to stay the case with the Supreme Court, arguing that the lower court had simply ignored earlier high court rulings.

“It is rare for a federal agency to attempt to so brazenly evade this Court. EPA is now attempting, through a clumsy sleight of hand, what this Court has already held to be impossible,” they wrote.

The risk for ratepayers — who have already seen average retail electricity rates rise by 20% since 2020 — is the potential impact on natural gas generation. Natural gas generates about 43% of U.S. electricity.

But ending coal-fired power generation, which accounts for 13% of power generation nationwide, could also hurt consumers by pulling supplies out of the domestic market, which would raise electricity costs. Goldman Sachs Research estimates that demand for electricity to power data centers will increase by 160% by 2030.

Then there are the legal challenges to Biden’s policy, which critics like the National Taxpayers Union say is a rehash of an Obama-era order that the Supreme Court has already struck down as overreaching.

Attorneys general agree, calling Biden’s plan “déjà vu all over again.”

Energy experts say the administration is trying to impose carbon emissions levels on a world that doesn’t exist. “We’re disappointed that (EPA) hasn’t addressed our concerns about carbon capture and storage,” said Edison Electric Institute President and CEO Dan Brouillette. He doesn’t think the technology will be ready for full deployment by 2032, when the rules are set to go into effect.

Evan Lips writes about politics and policy for NHJournal.com.