More than half the states are suing the Obama administration over the centerpiece of President Obama’s climate change agenda, with the number of business trade associations and other groups joining the states rising daily. Twenty-six states’ attorneys general and utility regulators, as of Monday, are suing the administration, with 15 trade groups, labor unions and a host of individual utilities and companies.
Oklahoma and North Dakota are the latest states to file lawsuits after a 24-state coalition on Friday sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its Clean Power Plan, which seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. The rules were published in the Federal Register on Friday, making them challengeable in federal appeals court.
This is also a bipartisan effort. Coal is still one of the main sources for U.S. energy, and this plan would gut the construction of future coal plants. Moreover, it’s going to force the closures of current power plants, which will spike electrical costs. In Texas, they’re projected to see a 16 percent increase in energy costs by 2030. Twenty-five coal power plants are set to close in Michigan by 2020, where 50 percent of its power is derived from coal.
Green warriors have long said that market forces were killing off coal, which isn’t true. The industry has adapted and restructured. Why? Because the country still needs coal, in which we have enough to power the country for centuries, hence why many describe the U.S. as the Saudi Arabia of coal. It should also be noted that while we’re at the most industrialized we’ve ever been, our air quality have never been better, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Source: Townhall