Dive Brief:

• Eight Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to crack down on air emissions from nine “upwind” states that depend heavily on coal power.
• The East Coast states face tough air emissions rules, but they argue their air quality is hurt by pollution from coal-fired plants and other sources drifting into their region from the Midwest and South.
• The petition comes the day before the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which aims to reduce the spread of air pollution in the central and eastern U.S.

Dive Insight:

Between 70% and 98% of ozone air pollution in the affected states is blown in from upwind states, the petitioning states said. The “upwind” states that would be affected by the petition to EPA include: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Some Republicans, coal states and the coal industry has been pressing back against the EPA, arguing the the Obama Administration is engaged in a “war on coal.” The East Coast states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont – don't care if their upwind neighbors burn coal. They just want the pollution to end.