Two dozen Republican states ask SCOTUS to weigh in on blocking EPA power plant rule

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and the attorney generals of 24 other red states are asking the Supreme Court to issue an emergency injunction against the Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant emissions rule. 

The coalition argues when the high court ruled against the EPA in West Virginia v. EPA in 2022, it placed real limits on what the EPA can do. 

“We will ensure those limits are upheld," Morrisey said. "This Green New Deal agenda the Biden administration continues to force onto the people is setting up the plants to fail and therefore shutter, altering the nation’s already stretched grid. We need the plants to stay open."

Morrisey led a 25-state coalition that is suing the EPA over the rules, as are utilities and industry groups. Under the EPA’s rule issued in April, coal-fired and new gas-fired power plants operating after 2039 will have to install carbon capture technologies running at 90% efficiency.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected requests from the coalition to block the rule.

Compliance standards come into effect beginning in 2032. Analyses show that the rule will likely result in coal plants being retired, as the investments won't be economically feasible, and it will discourage investment in natural gas plants. This will potentially lead to more blackouts and increased energy costs.