The U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue an emergency stay to halt federal rules to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide at power plants.
Litigation led by states including West Virginia against the Environmental Protection Agency will continue over the longer term, though.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican candidate for governor, expressed disappointment over the court majority’s near-term decision but pointed toward the ongoing litigation.
“This is not the end of this case: we will continue to fight through the merits phase and prove this rule strips the states of important discretion while forcing plants to use technologies that don’t work in the real world,” Morrisey said in a statement distributed by his office.
“Here, the EPA again is trying to transform the nation’s entire grid, forcing power plants to shutter. And adding injury to unlawfulness, the Biden administration packaged this rule with several other rules aimed at destroying traditional energy providers.”
The Supreme Court’s decision this week denies an emergency stay of the implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule on existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants.
The EPA rolled out its new rules in April.
Coal plants that plan to stay open beyond 2039 would have to cut or capture 90% of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2032. Plants that expect to retire by 2039 would face a less stringent standard but still would have to capture some emissions. Coal plants that are set to retire by 2032 would not be subject to the new rules.
The rules would also require all new baseload gas-fired plants control 90% of their carbon pollution.
In this week’s Supreme Court decision about an emergency halt, Justice Clarence Thomas would have temporarily blocked the EPA from enforcing the rule. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch indicated the challenges to the EPA stands a significant chance of success in the longer term, but they suggested that the litigation is moving quickly in the lower court and said work to comply with the rule would not be required until next June.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and has been critical of the EPA rules.
“While the Supreme Court’s decision not to issue a stay is disappointing, I remain confident in the strength of the legal challenges to this clearly illegal rule. I have repeatedly warned that this rule will increase energy costs, jeopardize reliability, and bring harm to communities across West Virginia and other energy states. As I did in 2015 and earlier this year, I will continue to lead the fight against this rule and the Biden-Harris administration’s attack on coal and natural gas power generation,” Capito said today.