CHARLESTON, WV (WVDN) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey issued a statement following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s release of a new rule Thursday that would force power plants fueled by coal or natural gas to capture smokestack emissions or shut down.
“This new rule would strip the states of important discretion while using technologies that don’t work in the real world—so it sets up the plants to fail. These plants, which are an essential part of our power grid, will be unable to meet the standards dictated by the EPA, leaving them with no other option but to cease operations,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “We will be challenging this rule. The U.S. Supreme Court has placed significant limits on what the EPA can do—we plan on ensuring that those limits are upheld, and we expect that we will once again prevail in court against this out-of-control agency.”
“This tactic by the EPA is unacceptable, and this rule flies in the face of the rule of law. We are confident this new rule is not going to be upheld, and it just seems designed to scare more coal-fired power plants into retirement—the goal of the Biden administration.”
“Making matters worse, the administration packaged this rule with several other rules aimed at destroying traditional energy providers. We’re reviewing those rules as well, and we’ll be working with state and industry partners to implement the best strategy for fighting back against Biden’s anti-energy agenda.”
