October 18, 2024 |
Photo – Image of carbon capture – Courtesy investopedia.com
Supreme Court, on Thursday, declined to issue an emergency stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule.
Under the regulation, which the states argue is illegal, existing coal and new natural gas power plants must install emissions control technologies that aren’t yet commercially viable. Plants that don’t comply risk permanent closure. The Biden-Harris Administration mandate was advanced under the guise of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2032.
In May, Wyoming joined 23 other states in putting a hold on the new federal regulations, which target carbon emissions from power plants.
Published reports, this week, say Justice Clarence Thomas would have granted the stay while litigation is underway in a lower court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, agreed with dismissing the requests to stay the rule, but said “the applicants have shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits as to at least some of their challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule.”
In a statement, Governor Mark Gordon called the rule “expansive and unlawful.” Litigation in the courts will continue.
Critics say the rule is little more than a Biden Administration weapon to punish American coal country which has left the president’s party in droves over the last 20 years. The rule favors radical, environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) donors, which have become a major force inside the Democrat party, especially in a presidential election year.
Governor Gordon noted that, “Regrettably, our utilities are still required to assume the regulations will be in effect until the lower courts rule, only increasing the uncertainty of their future. We can hope the musings of the two justices who recognized the merits of our case will hold sway in a timely positive resolution of this challenge.”
Under the rule, owners of coal-fired and new gas-fired power plants set to operate past 2039 are required to meet a carbon dioxide emission standard equal to installing a carbon capture and storage system running at 90% efficiency, with compliance beginning in 2032.
Meanwhile, oral arguments in the case are expected to be held early next year in circuit court. The outcome of next month’s presidential election will likely affect the litigation.
