AG Coleman urges SCOTUS to block EPA rule impacting fossil fuel plants
Published 8:01 am Thursday, July 25, 2024
Attorney General Russell Coleman announced on Tuesday that he is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately block the Biden Administration’s plan to shut down fossil fuel power plants.
As part of a 25-state coalition, General Coleman seeks emergency relief from the Supreme Court to stop the EPA’s latest rule that he says effectively forces coal and natural gas plants to close unless they install expensive and unproven technologies.
In May, Coleman joined the coalition to protect affordable and reliable energy. He says the EPA released a package of job-killing energy regulations that would drive up prices on Kentucky families, the worst of which is a crackdown on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that amounts to little more than a do-over of the Obama Administration’s plan that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s extreme attack on Kentucky’s affordable and reliable energy would force families to pay billions just to increase the chances that we sit in the dark,” Coleman said. “This isn’t serious policymaking but another of Washington’s ideological assaults on Middle America. We’re fighting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Kentucky families and our Commonwealth’s competitive edge.”
The AGs and energy producers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to block the rule last week.
“To protect electric reliability and the interests of Kentucky energy consumers, we strongly support the appeal to the Supreme Court to stay the EPA power plant emissions rule. Electric cooperatives are fighting to keep the lights on, to keep hospitals and schools powered and to keep industries and jobs productive,” stated Kentucky Electric Cooperatives President and CEO Chris Perry.
“We are striving to maintain the reliability of our grid and provide stable electricity prices,” added Big Rivers Electric Corporation President and CEO Don Gulley. “While Kentucky has taken steps under Attorney General Coleman’s leadership to stop the onslaught of regulation and maintain reliable power for the state of Kentucky, this is a national issue, and we support the appeal to the Supreme Court.”