An editorial from The Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — It’s no secret that a sound, realistic energy plan is missing in the United States.
That’s a major reason states, including West Virginia, and industry groups dependent on fossil fuels filed court challenges Friday to President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Opponents of the plan filed a flurry of lawsuits at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. D.C., as the Environmental Protection Agency published its final version of the new regulations.
The challenges from all but two of the 25 states were filed by Republicans. As The Associated Press reported, they deride the plan as an “unlawful power grab by Washington bureaucrats” that will kill coal mining jobs as well as jobs in related industries and drive up electricity costs.
“The Clean Power Plan is one of the most far-reaching energy regulations in this nation’s history,” said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, among those leading the challenges. “I have a responsibility to protect the lives of millions of working families, the elderly and the poor, from such illegal and unconscionable federal government actions.”
Obama made no secret about his desire to limit carbon emissions during his first presidential campaign in 2008.
“Today is a really important day for the people of West Virginia and citizens in all of the states that have joined the coalition,” Morrisey said. “People should really be concerned by what the Obama administration and the EPA is doing.
“The cap and trade effort was rejected by a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives in 2009,” Morrisey said. “What the EPA is attempting to do is to set environmental policy. The EPA is a regulatory agency, not a central energy policy planner…