Boozman Statement on Supreme Court's Stay of EPA's Carbon Mandates

Feb 16, 2016, 14:47

The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a stunning blow to the climate change agenda that McCarthy has spearheaded for the administration, issuing a 5-4 ruling temporarily blocking new lower emission standards for coal plants announced eight months ago.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stop enforcement of its "Clean Power Plan" regulations while a lawsuit against the regulations works its way through the federal courts.

Wake Forest University law professor and Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (CEES) faculty affiliate Sidney Shapiro says the Supreme Court's decision is highly unusual in a number of ways.

The decision shocked many court watchers, dismayed those in favor of strong climate action and elicited comparisons to the infamous Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore, with many saying that the court had once again abandoned judicial restraint and legal reasoning in favor of bald political gamesmanship. It rooted this decision in the fundamental goal of the 45-year-old Clean Air Act: to protect Americans from air pollution that puts us in danger.

GOP's Trump threatens lawsuit against 2016 rival Cruz
The question of whether Cruz's Canadian birth counts as "natural-born" citizenship, the requirement for the presidency in the U.S. Cruz fired back later Monday afternoon, telling a crowd here that Trump has "apparently lost it" with his latest ultimatum.

The states' suit, before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exceeded its authority in issuing the rules and also changed them significantly for Montana without giving the state a chance to comment.

Clean Power Plan foes said the Supreme Court stay should force the president to abandon the strategy. "Without the Clean Power Plan, it's possible that we would meet our Paris commitments, but it certainly seems to indicate that it's not a priority for the U.S".

Jim Barnes, a former general counsel for the EPA, says the stay doesn't look good for those backing the plan, which would require IN power plants to significantly cut their carbon emissions. David Doniger, climate and clean-air program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the stay can not "dampen the overwhelming public support for action on climate change and clean energy".

The bipartisan coalition challenged the EPA's power plan on October 23, 2015, the day the rule was published. Even if the plan is eventually struck down, if the legal review process takes too long and most States and companies have already complied with the CPP, it would still mean the end of coal.

Wayne Rooney: This should be Man Utd's main target for the season
Sunderland go into the game having sacked England global Adam Johnson on Thursday after the winger pleaded guilty to child sex charges.

In 2009, Jackson was speaking when the USA was gripped by recession, and there would have been much more resistance to pushing more expensive green energy sources.

"Carbon pollution from the electric sector has been declining over the past several years", said Joanne Spalding, chief climate counsel of the Sierra Club.

"We've transitioned from dirty fossil energy to clean renewable energy. If a stay of the Clean Power Plan is granted, there is a real threat that some other countries, including major emitters, might reduce the intensity or pace of their actions or even fail to achieve their commitments". The American Energy Alliance said Friday it had sent a letter to Gov. Matt Mead, urging Wyoming to halt its efforts.

The plan was created to lower carbon emissions from US power plants by 2030 to 32 percent below 2005 levels. "We're optimistic the power plan will ultimately be rejected".

Stevie Wonder trolls the 2016 Grammys with braille joke
Wonder also presented the Grammy for Song of the Year which afforded him the opportunity to play a little trick on the audience. Wonder performed a tribute to "a wonderful friend", said Wonder, Maurice White , who died of Parkinson's Disease on February 4.

Meyer said some of his colleagues expressed concern over a "repeat of Kyoto" where the world "accommodated the U.S." in the design of the agreement only to see the USA not implement it. "But there's also awareness of the big differences between now and then", Meyer added. With a Republican win in the next presidential election, by contrast, all bets are off for future federal climate change regulation.