A Flimsy Legal Attack on Clean Air

Fact Sheets and Resources | Mothers and Others for Clean Air
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 "The EPAs Clean Power Plan rule would place strict limits on CO2 emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants and would force many of the dirtiest to shut down.   On Tuesday , however, 28 states, scores of power companies and industry groups were before the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to challenge the E.P.A.’s authority to use this approach under the  Clean Air Act, on which the rule is based. The issue is whether the E.P.A. can use an approach to regulating greenhouse gases, different from the way it has regulated other types of pollutants, like mercury emissions, because technology is outside   the fence line” of existing power plants. They would need to switchto cleaner fuels, investing in alternative forms of energy like wind and solar power and setting up cap-and-trade systems with other states. Opponents say this is a prime example of “executive overreach.”