Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy was taken off guard Wednesday when asked to explain the timing of the Obama administration’s climate rules for power plants.
Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, chairman of the powerful Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, turned the tables on the EPA administrator by using a hearing on a toxic mine spill to press her on the timing of the Clean Power Plan for power plants. He said not publishing the rules is slowing states’ legal right to sue the agency.
“I don’t have these numbers in my head,” McCarthy said. “I wasn’t expecting the question.”
The federal carbon rules were expected to be published in the Federal Register by Sept. 4, Inhofe said, asking why the rules were not published on that date. EPA and federal lawyers said last month that they don’t expect to publish the rule until late October.
Inhofe said the EPA is “delaying the publication” of the Clean Power Plan to slow states’ right to legally challenge the contentious regulations “before the big show in Paris,” implying the delay is meant to help President Obama hash out a deal on global warming with world leaders in Paris in December.
The Clean Power Plan is key to the U.S. demonstrating its seriousness in reaching a global deal. Sixteen states are champing on the bit to challenge it as soon as it is published in the Federal Register. The plan places states on the hook to reduce emissions a third by 2030, which the states argue is illegal.
