FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
January 21, 2016
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
ATTORNEY GENERAL STRANGE ANNOUNCES ALABAMA AND COALITION
OF STATES ASK DC FEDERAL COURT TO PERMANENTLY VACATE
EPA CARBON RULE
(MONTGOMERY) – Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has stayed the Obama
administration’s carbon rule, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and a coalition
of 30 other states and state agencies are asking the lower court to go ahead and rule
against the plan.
The litigation is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit, which will make a decision on the merits of the case. The coalition filed their
brief Friday evening and oral arguments are expected in early June.
“Ten days after winning a stay in the United States Supreme Court of President
Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan, Alabama and a majority of U.S. states are asking
the U.S. Circuit Court in Washington, D.C. to permanently vacate the Obama
administration’s illegal carbon rule, once and for all,” said Attorney General Strange.
“The EPA not only goes too far in seeking to impose arbitrary and overly restrictive
limitations on carbon dioxide emissions, but it does so with the goal of changing
America’s energy sources. The EPA’s costly carbon rule is little more than a power grab
and just the latest in a long list of Obama administration attempts to end-run
Congress,” added Attorney General Strange.
The multi-state filing noted:
“Relying on an obscure provision of the Clean Air Act, EPA’s Rule seeks to effect an
‘aggressive transformation’ of the mix of electricity generation in nearly every State by
systematically ‘decarbonizing’ power generation and ushering in a new ‘clean energy’
economy. Although Congress has debated a number of bills designed to achieve that
very result, it has not yet adopted any such legislation. Frustrated with Congress, EPA
now purports to have discovered sweeping authority in Clean Air Act section 111(d) – a
provision that has been used only five times in 45 years – to issue a ‘Power Plan’ that
forces States to fundamentally reorganize electricity generation throughout the
country.”
–30–
501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
