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Attorney General Morrisey: Working to strike down ‘Clean Power Plan’

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Friday he is leading a coalition of 23 other States in a lawsuit, asking a federal court to strike down a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Rule, known as the Clean Power Plan, which unlawfully expands the federal government’s regulatory power over electricity production and consumption in nearly every State.

Morrisey’s release:

“The Clean Power Plan is one of the most far-reaching energy regulations in this nation’s history,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “West Virginia is proud to be leading the charge against this Administration’s blatant and unprecedented attack on coal.”

The Rule forces States to develop plans to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 32 percent by 2030. EPA says this goal can be accomplished by reducing or eliminating coal-based energy generation.

“EPA claims to have sweeping power to enact such regulations based on a rarely-used provision of the Clean Air Act but such legal authority simply does not exist,” Morrisey said.

Forcing such drastic changes in electricity production, coal-fired plants will be subjected to costly compliance measures or closure, leading to skyrocketing electricity rates and loss of reliable electricity for West Virginian families.

**VIDEO DOWNLOAD LINK: http://bit.ly/1R1XLFt**

“As Attorney General, 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,” Morrisey said. “It’s the people who can afford it least who are going to be affected the most.”

In the Petition for Review and the Stay Motions filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the States argue the Rule is illegal and will have devastating impacts upon the States and their citizens.

The Section 111(d) rule exceeds EPA’s authority by unlawfully forcing States to fundamentally alter state resource-planning and energy policy by shifting from coal-fired generation to other sources of power generation, with a significant emphasis on renewable sources. The Rule is also illegal because it seeks to require States to regulate coal-fired power plants under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, even though EPA already regulates those same plants under Section 112 of the Act.

The States challenging the Rule include West Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the Arizona Corporations Commission, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

A copy of the Petition for Review can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/1jYApFR
A filed but not file-stamped copy of the Stay Motion can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/1kAo5Mp

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