WASHINGTON DC – A federal appeals court on Thursday denied a stay sought by numerous states’ attorneys general, including Michigan’s Attorney General Bill Schuette, of the federal carbon emissions rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where the challenge to the EPA’s Clean Power Plan was filed, denied a request to halt the implementation of the plan until litigation on the package had concluded. In order to obtain such relief, the states challenging the rule had to show it would cause them irreparable harm while the case is pending.
That claim was made by West Virginia and 23 other states, including Schuette, who sought relief despite Gov. Rick Snyder saying the state would not pursue a legal challenge to the federal rule once it became finalized last summer.
A request for comment from Schuette’s office was not immediately returned.
The decision by the court was called a “huge win” by environmental advocates who have long said the challenge would not hold up in court anyway (though litigation continues).
“This is a huge win for protecting our health and climate from dangerous carbon pollution. The court has brushed aside the polluters’ bogus bid to block the Clean Power Plan, and the electricity sector will continue the shift from its high-pollution, dirty-fueled past to a safer, cleaner-powered future,” David Doniger, director of the Climate and Clean Air Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.
“The decision greenlights work that most states have already begun to put the Clean Power Plan into action, and signals to others that there is no excuse for holding back on implementation. Cutting the largest source of carbon pollution fueling climate change should be Job One,” he said.
Legislators in Michigan had been working on a plan to update the state’s energy law, last overhauled in 2008, when the Clean Power Plan was finalized. Although lawmakers continue to mark energy policy as a major goal for 2016, its fate has become less clear as other priorities such as the Flint water crisis and reforming Detroit Public Schools gain steam.
“Today’s decision to uphold the Clean Power Plan shuts down Schuette’s politically-motivated attack on the Clean Power Plan, a common-sense plan to reduce pollution and protect our air, land and water,” Jack Schmitt, deputy director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement. “Today’s ruling is an important step toward a cleaner, healthier future and we look forward to working with Governor Snyder’s administration to design and implement a plan that accelerates our transition away from expensive, dirty sources of energy to clean, reliable, affordable energy.”
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