GOP states, including Georgia, sue to stop power plant pollution rules

Twenty-five Republican-led states, including Georgia, filed a legal challenge Thursday to new federal regulations on air pollution from power plants that generate electricity.

The new rule, announced in April, would likely end coal-burning for power in the U.S. over the next 15 years and make it significantly harder for utilities to continue using natural gas. Both coal and natural gas are non-renewable fossil fuels that contribute to climate change, and the rule was hailed by environmentalists and assailed by utilities.

The appeal itself is only about a page long and makes no detailed argument against the rule other than to say it is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law.” It was filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which issued the rule, declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Georgia Power, which recently won approval from state regulators to add more fossil fuel-fired power generation to its fleet.

In a statement, Carr said the new rule includes costly, unattainable standards and unrealistic deadlines.

“Our economy depends on safe, reliable and affordable energy, and we won’t stand by while D.C. activists further burden families and businesses throughout our state,” the statement said. It also referenced a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court limiting the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

But Gudrun Thompson, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the new regulation stands on “firm legal footing.”

“It is unfortunate that some state attorneys general are wasting taxpayer dollars on a meritless challenge to the rule, instead of rolling up their sleeves to help get these safeguards implemented to protect communities in their states from fossil fuel pollution,” she said in a statement.

The new rules require existing coal-fired plants and new natural gas-fired plants to control 90% of their carbon pollution by 2032. Rules for existing gas-fired plants are still being developed.

The recent changes also included stricter regulations on the handling of coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that contains toxic heavy metals like lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic. Georgia Power and state regulators were already under scrutiny by the EPA for a plan to dispose of tons of coal ash in unlined ponds.

Also on Thursday, Reuters reported the states of Kansas and Ohio filed a separate legal challenge to the EPA emissions rules as did the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which represents about 900 local electrical co-ops, including some in Georgia.

A note of disclosure

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