EPA Finalizes ‘Illegal’ Clean Power Plan Tools, Draws Ire of States, Energy Companies

The EPA is moving forward with a voluntary cap-and-trade system for Clean Power Plan compliance, despite the US Supreme Court’s stay of the carbon pollution rules. The final carbon trading model went to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review last week, The Hill reports.  In June, the EPA proposed the details of the CEIP, which rewards states for early deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency measures. The agency said the proposal was in response to requests from 14 states to provide guidance and information about the program. Dozens of other states, however, say both of these actions by the EPA are illegal. In joint comments submitted to the EPA, 26 state attorneys general, two state public utility commissions, and four state environmental quality departments, said the EPA is violating the Supreme Court order that halted implementation of the Clean Power Plan until the legal challenges have concluded. “By moving forward with this rulemaking, EPA has ignored explicit instruction from the court, throwing years of well-established case law out the window,” Montana attorney general Tim Fox said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable for the EPA to flout the rule of law and treat our nation’s highest court in this manner, and for the sake of preserving the integrity of the institution, I encourage the agency officials to rethink their actions.”...more