WASHINGTON — In a victory for President Joe Biden’s administration, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that a new federal regulation aimed at limiting global warming-causing pollution from coal-fired power plants may remain in force as long as legal challenges continue.
Industry groups and some Republican-led states had asked the court to block the case. the Environmental Protection Agency emergency measure taken because it was unfeasible and jeopardized the reliability of the country’s electricity grid.
The EPA rule, announced in April, would force many coal-fired power plants to capture 90% of their carbon emissions or close within eight years. The rules are a key part of the Democratic president’s pledge to Eliminate carbon pollution from the electricity sector by 2035 and for the entire economy by 2050.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the industry’s request to block the rule, saying the groups had failed to show they were likely to succeed on the merits. The case also failed to raise an important question under an earlier Supreme Court rulingsince the EPA only claimed authority to “establish emissions limits … that would reduce pollution by causing the regulated source to operate cleaner,” the appeals court ruled.
The unanimous ruling also rejected the claim of immediate damages, arguing that the compliance deadlines do not begin until 2030 or 2032.
The ruling was delivered by Justices Patricia Millett, Cornelia Pillard and Neomi Rao. Millett and Pillard were appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, while Rao was appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump, a Republican.
Environmental groups applauded the ruling, saying the court recognized the EPA’s legal responsibility to control harmful pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions. The energy sector is the nation’s second-largest contributor to climate change.
“Americans across the country are suffering from intense heat waves, extreme storms and flooding, and increased wildfires caused by climate pollution,” said Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. EDF and other groups “will continue to vigorously defend the EPA’s cost-effective and achievable carbon pollution standards for power plants,” she said.
Meredith Hankins, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the EPA regulations “set reasonable standards for utilities and states to reduce their carbon pollution.” The scorching heat wave The fact that it is affecting a large part of the country is a sign that the rules are desperately needed, she said.
“The idea that power producers need immediate relief from modest standards that go into effect eight years from now was clearly absurd,” Hankins added. West Virginia and other states that challenged the rule “have ample time to begin their planning process” to comply with the rule, she said.
The National Mining Association, which joined the legal proceedings, has indicated it will seek an emergency stay in the Supreme Court.
“The stakes could not be higher. The nation’s electricity supply is already being stretched to its limits, and this rule flies in the face of what the utilities, grid operators and grid reliability experts tell us is necessary to maintain grid reliability,” said Rich Nolan, the group’s president and CEO.
Nolan and other industry leaders said the rule would lead to the premature closure of power plants critical to grid reliability, even as demand for electricity increases.
Timothy Carroll, an EPA spokesman, said the agency was pleased that the court allowed the power plant regulations to go into effect while the lawsuit is pending.
“EPA’s final standards will significantly reduce harmful carbon pollution from existing coal-fired power plants, which remain the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector,” Carroll said.
The EPA predicts the regulations will generate up to $370 billion in net climate and health benefits and save nearly 1.4 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047. This is equivalent to preventing the annual emissions of 328 million gasoline-powered cars.
The power plant regulations mark the first time the federal government has imposed restrictions carbon dioxide emissions of existing coal-fired power plants. The rule would also force future power plants that run on coal or natural gas to control up to 90% of their carbon pollution.
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