WASHINGTON,\u00a0April 28, 2017\u00a0– The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has put a hold on litigation over the Clean Power Plan while it considers whether to send the matter back to the Environmental Protection Agency.<\/p>\n
The court granted the Trump administration\u2019s motion to hold in abeyance the consolidated cases before it, which were the subject of a full day of\u00a0oral arguments<\/a>\u00a0last fall.<\/p>\n The court, which had been expected to issue a decision soon, instead suspended proceedings for 60 days and ordered the parties to file supplemental briefs by\u00a0May 15\u00a0on whether to remand the matter to EPA.<\/p>\n \u201cWe welcome this news from the D.C. Circuit,\u201d\u00a0EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox\u00a0said in an e-mailed statement. \u201cLast year, the Supreme Court granted a stay on the Clean Power Plan, so we always knew there were serious legal problems with this initiative from the Obama administration.\u201d<\/p>\n The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association also applauded the decision.\u00a0\u201cToday\u2019s court announcement is welcome news. Since the administration has decided to revisit the CPP, there\u2019s no need for the court to issue a decision,\u201d NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said.<\/p>\n Sen. John Barrasso, the Wyoming Republican who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee,\u00a0said the decision was a win for his state\u2019s energy workers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe so-called Clean Power Plan would shut down American power plants and increase energy costs for families,\u201d Barrasso said. \u201cThis decision gives President Trump\u2019s administration time to reverse this damaging Obama-era regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n EPW ranking minority member Tom Carper, D-Del., however,\u00a0said he was \u201cdeeply disappointed\u201d in the appeals court\u2019s decision. \u201cWhen it comes to addressing climate change, the absolute last thing we need is further delay.\u201d<\/p>\n Carper said he hopes the climate marches scheduled for\u00a0Saturday\u00a0in Washington, D.C., and across the country will help the Trump administration to \u201cfinally realize that the American people want us to act now to address climate change in a serious way.\u201d<\/p>\n The rule, designed to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, was promulgated in October 2015 but was stayed by the Supreme Court in February 2016. In a\u00a0March 28\u00a0motion to the court, EPA said that because it was reviewing the rule, which\u00a0\u201cmay be significantly modified or rescinded\u201d in accordance with a White House\u00a0executive order<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cholding this case in abeyance is the most efficient and logical course of action.\u201d<\/p>\n Opponents of the regulation supported EPA\u2019s request to pause the litigation.\u00a0\u201cThere is a real risk that a decision by this court on the legality of the existing rule will amount to a mere advisory opinion because the rule may well be repealed or substantially altered in the near future,\u201d states, utilities, businesses and trade associations said in a brief filed April 6.<\/p>\n Environmental and public health groups, however, argued that delaying a decision on the CPP would effectively convert the Supreme Court\u2019s temporary stay \u201cinto a long-term suspension of the rule likely continuing for years, without any court having issued any decision on the rule\u2019s merits,\u201d according to their brief, filed April 5.<\/p>\n #30<\/p>\n For more news, go to\u00a0www.Agri-Pulse.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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