West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey last week demanded that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdraw proposed greenhouse gas emission rules for new power plants, saying the agency didn't meet federal deadlines for the policy change.
Morrisey called for the EPA to remove the proposed rules in a letter signed by 19 state attorney generals.
“The proposed rule is unlawful, and will be devastating to West Virginia and other states that depend upon the extraction and use of fossil fuels for energy,” Morrisey said. “The EPA is trying to enforce new standards when it refuses to abide by timelines mandated by Congress.”
Morrisey said the Clean Air Act requires the agency to finalize all performance standards for fossil-fueled power plants within one year of proposing the rules. The EPA first announced and published the new rules on Jan. 8, 2014, but didn't finalize the rules before Jan. 8 of this year.
“This proposed rule should be withdrawn immediately,” Morrisey said. “The EPA cannot meet its own deadlines yet wants states and businesses to meet standards which it has not even developed.”
The letter was also signed by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.