TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) — New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced Jan. 30 that the state will withdraw from West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The case involves a lawsuit against the federal government over the Clean Power Plan (CPP) enacted under President Obama.
“This case is completely contradictory to the values that we have in this state and to our commitment to clean energy,” Murphy said in a statement. “We acknowledge the reality of climate change and attempting to stop smart regulations due to baseless fears about EPA overreaching is reprehensible. Governor (Chris) Christie and his administration supported this lawsuit despite a wealth of evidence that tougher limits on carbon emissions are necessary to ensure a healthier future for our state.”
Obama unveiled the CPP in 2015. Its goal is to reduce the amount of carbon being emitted from power plants in the United States. President Trump, however, issued an executive order that mandated that the EPA must review the plan.
“The EPA’s Clean Power Plan rule is a comprehensive effort to slow down global warming and protect human health,” Grewal said in a statement. “We believe that New Jersey should and can comply with the proposed requirement to submit a plan to reduce its production of carbon dioxide. By withdrawing from the current lawsuit that aims to prevent the Clean Power Plan rule from going into effect, New Jersey steps out of the role of obstructionist and begins the legal process of fighting for our future.”