Dive Brief:
- Republicans are searching for a way to block President Obama's signature effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but increasingly it appears a solution can only come through the courts.
- Any legislative efforts would require either Obama's signature or a veto override, and some GOP leaders are beginning to acknowledge that the appropriations process is not a viable option, the Hill reports.
- Once the final regulations are published several states have signaled their intent to file a lawsuit, challenging that the rule oversteps federal authority.
Dive Insight:
Even as GOP leaders on Capitol Hill prepare a slate of bills designed to roll back the administration's Clean Power Plan, some Republican leaders are admitting their best chance at fighting the nation's first federal carbon regulations lies with the courts.
A legislative fix would require the President's signature or a veto override, and as Ed Whitfield (R-KY) told the Hill, “You don’t think the president will ever sign a bill that will do anything, do you?”
“The reality is that, obviously, the appropriation process is a good way that you could go," Whitfield said. "But Congress is pretty non-functional right now for a lot of reasons, and appropriations bills are not being passed or signed, so you end up with a CR, then you get down to the government shutdown, and then politics overrides everything. Personally I don’t see the appropriations process as a very effective way of accomplishing any goals.”
That leaves the option of fighting the regulations in the courts, and states and industry groups are lining up to file suit once a final version of the new rule is published, expected by the end of October. Already a group of plaintiffs have seen two challenges thrown out by the D.C. Circuit Court on the grounds that they were premature.
Colorado is the most recent state to announce it would join a growing multi-state legal challenge to the Clean Power Plan.
"The rule is an unprecedented attempt to expand the federal government’s regulatory control over the states' energy economy,” Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said. “The EPA appears unwilling to accept limits set by Congress in the Clean Air Act and instead is pushing its agenda forward through regulatory rewrites that overreach its legal authority.”
The plan, announced in August, targets a 32% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. It's a deeper cut than the administration had initially proposed, but with more time allowed for initial reductions.