MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said Monday he would take President Barack Obama and his administration to court if it continued its plan to reduce carbon emissions by power plants.
Luther said the plans by the administration were “illegal and arbitrary” and would hurt the economy and cost jobs.
“After years of propaganda efforts aimed at convincing Americans that they must sacrifice lower energy bills and jobs in order to meet arbitrary carbon emission goals, the Obama administration has finally unveiled its new energy mandate,” Strange said.
"The Environmental Protection Agency’s new Clean Power Plan continues the Obama administration’s theme of ignoring the legal limits on its executive authority in order to satisfy a political agenda that places the lowest priority on the rights of coal industry workers and American consumers.”
Strange added annual household energy bills could increase by more than $800 every year for Alabama residents if the new rule by the EPA were implemented. He added about 16,000 residents work in the coal industry in the state, and those jobs would be in jeopardy if the new rule were put into place.
“This places an undue burden on those who can least afford it, including the poor, the elderly and others on fixed incomes,” Strange said.