Nine States Join Lawsuit Opposing EPA Carbon Rules

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that was initiated by the Murray Energy Corporation (St. Clairsville, Ohio) has now been joined by nine states: Alaska, Wyoming, Alabama, Ohio, North Carolina, Nebraska, West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Murray Energy Corporation is the largest independent coal company in the U.S. and recently expanded with the purchase of the McElroy, Shoemaker, Blacksville, Loveridge, and Robinson Run mining complexes in West Virginia.

The EPA's proposed regulation aims to cut carbon emissions from stationary sources 30% by 2030. The 30% reduction is based on 2005 emissions. The lawsuit challenging the regulation was initiated by Murray Energy and charges that the EPA issued rules under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, but that this section prohibits the regulation of coal companies because they are following standards set by other sections of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the suit claims, putting new rules in place would "impose impermissible double regulation" on power plants.

The federal regulatory initiative comes in response to mounting scientific consensus on climate change that is supported by two climate reports issued in April and May of this year. The most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was released in Berlin in April. The report states that "major institutional and technological changes" are needed to limit the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Charles Kolstad, an environmental economist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the report's lead author said: "The longer we wait, the costlier it will be." Leon Clarke, an IPCC author and research economist with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, said "Things are going to have to change if we do want to control climate change. If we do nothing, temperatures will continue to rise."

The second report, released in May, was by the federal government's National Climate Assessment (NCA), the American scientific community's definitive statement on the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. That body's report compiles the research efforts of 300 leading climate scientists and experts. Gary Yohe, an economist at Wesleyan University and member of the NCA advisory committee, said: "I just hope that we convince as many people as possible that they live in a dynamic climate, that the old normal is broken and we have no idea what the new normal is going to look like when all of this is done."

Economic considerations and political factors will figure heavily in the implementation of any regulation. The EPA plans to implement this regulation in 2015, and the reductions would vary by state. Industrial Info will be publishing a series of articles over the coming weeks looking at some of the economic impacts of this changing regulatory environment at the state and regional levels.

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