Justice Department lawyers are pushing back against states’ opposition to President Obama’s emissions cuts, arguing that the Paris climate change talks are a prime reason federal judges should not stop the rules from taking effect.
More than two dozen states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its far-reaching Clean Power Plan for curbing carbon dioxide from power plants. The states argue that the rules are not power plant rules, but instead place states on the hook to reduce emissions a third by 2030.
Many scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane, for causing the Earth’s climate to warm. The Obama administration has made the rules the centerpiece of its commitments to reducing emissions 26-28 percent over the next decade under a United Nations global climate change deal expected to be reached this month.
The Justice Department and EPA lawyers argue that the court should refrain from staying the regulations because that would undermine the U.S.’s leadership in the talks.
“By demonstrating the United States’ commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the rule has helped to establish this country’s leadership on the international stage,” the administration argues in a legal brief filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday evening. “This leadership has facilitated new emission reduction commitments, called Intentional Nationally Determined Contributions, by countries representing 98 percent of global emissions.
“The successful implementation of the Clean Power Plan will enable our nation to continue leading by example,” the administration argues.
The lawyers say the states’ and industry claims that the rules will result in rolling blackouts has been raised before and has never happened.
“There is no reason to conclude that a stay during that period is needed to protect grid reliability or ratepayers,” the administration argues. “Furthermore, similar prior warnings by the industry that environmental regulation will cause blackouts and skyrocketing electric bills have not been borne out.
“As with previous significant air-pollution regulations for the power industry, the rule can be implemented cost-effectively, with limited impacts on rates, without disrupting the electrical grid, and with significant benefits to public health and the environment,” the brief adds.
The GOP has argued that implementing the Clean Power Plan will cause energy costs around the nation to skyrocket, while making the grid system less reliable. The House passed two resolutions of disapproval earlier this week, following the Senate, that would repeal the climate regulations.
Obama said he will veto the resolutions, which did not secure enough votes to make them veto proof. The administration has called the resolutions primarily symbolic, with little effect on progress being made in Paris.
