Jim Rosica
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday joined 23 other states in opposing a federal government plan to reduce air pollution by further regulating the smoke from power plants.
The “Clean Power Plan,” as enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “would result in dramatically higher electricity bills and significantly less reliable service,” according to a news release from Bondi’s office.
The plan is aimed at reducing greenhouse gases that most, but not all, scientists say contribute to climate change.
“We will not stand by and allow these unlawful and heavy-handed utility regulations to trample our states’ rights and drastically increase electricity prices in Florida,” Bondi, a Republican, said in a prepared statement.
“We have seen how President [Barack] Obama’s overreach has created unease in markets, eliminated competition and increased costs for millions of Americans,” she said. “This new federal rule promulgated by the EPA will have a similar effect on energy production, access and price in Florida and across the country.”
The rule lays out “an unrealistic time frame” by forcing electric utilities to cut down carbon dioxide and other toxic emissions from their smokestacks by 2030.
It also would “require the use of costly and unproven technologies.” Plus, Bondi said, the EPA “has no legal authority” to enforce the rule.
The states opposing the rule now include West Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Arizona, and North Carolina.
All but three of those states have Republican attorney generals.
The case is in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
