Attorneys general in 25 states have banded together to file a legal challenge to another "unlawful" Environmental Protection Agency policy that is part of President Joe Biden's crusade to "end" fossil fuels and force an energy "transition."
At issue this time: the EPA's final rule establishing "New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units" as well as "Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units" and the "Repeal of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule."
Stemming from a 2009 Obama-era EPA "conclusion" that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions "endanger our nation's public health and welfare," the Biden EPA rule states that GHG "harms" have continued to cause Americans to "experience the destructive and worsening effects of climate change every day."
"Fossil fuel-fired [electric generating units] EGUs are the nation's largest stationary source of GHG emissions, representing 25 percent of the United States' total GHG emissions in 2021," the EPA rule cites as its reason for "finalizing several actions under section 111 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to reduce the significant quantity of GHG emissions from fossil-fuel fired EGUs by establishing emission guidelines and new source performance standards (NSPS)."
The rule is just one of the Biden administration's attempts to force the closure of fossil fuel-fired power facilities despite previous efforts being ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. It's outside the Biden administration's powers to trigger closures, but Biden and the EPA again tried to force the policy with new stringent standards.
These standards, of course, are set by Biden bureaucrats without express approval from Americans' representatives in Congress. As Attorney General Jason Miyares of Virginia — one of the states in the coalition suing the Biden administration — put it, the EPA is seeking to carry out an "illegal power grab" through a "unilateral regulatory mandate."
"By overstepping its bounds, the EPA is not only disregarding the Supreme Court's clear guidance but is also threatening the stability of our nation's energy supply and infringing upon the sovereign rights of states to manage their energy resources," Miyares added in a statement provided to Townhall.
Miyares, along with attorneys general from West Virginia, Indiana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming, are seeking to have the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit halt the EPA's rule that is set to go into effect on July 8, 2024.
In their petition to the Court "for review of the final agency action taken by Respondents United States Environmental Protection Agency and Michael S. Regan, Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency," the AGs state that they "will show that the final rule exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and otherwise is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law."
"Petitioners thus ask that this Court declare unlawful and vacate Respondents’ final action," the legal filing requests.
President Biden and his federal bureaucracy have demonstrated a lack of concern with what is constitutional and legal when it comes to attempts to force a warped future on Americans.
From the vaccine mandate and eviction moratorium to rules aimed at shuttering coal-fired power plants and student loan "forgiveness," Biden continues to flaunt the guardrails placed on presidential authority.
Thankfully, a strong originalist federal judiciary and Supreme Court continue to serve a critical role in checking the Executive Branch's power.
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