Attorney General Todd Rokita continues to call on the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop plans to impose stringent new emissions standards on power plants in Indiana and elsewhere without fulfilling its legal duty of first weighing costs and energy impacts.
“These ill-considered rules would force the closure of coal- and natural gas-fired power plants,” Attorney General Rokita said. “They would put Hoosiers out of work, raise Hoosiers’ energy prices and erode the reliability of our energy grid. We will not stand idly by while federal overreach strangles the Indiana economy.”
Along with attorneys general from 15 other states, Attorney General Rokita called this week for retraction of the proposed new rules in a letter to EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
The EPA has admitted to the validity of concerns expressed in a letter earlier this year from Attorney General Rokita and others. Instead of fixing problems with the new proposed rules or withdrawing them, however, the EPA simply tasked other stakeholders with coming up with solutions.
Attorney General Rokita noted that the new rule-making exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority and would reshape the nation’s electricity grid in an unlawful and destructive manner. The Clean Air Act requires that the EPA consider the cost and energy impacts of emission reduction measures.
“Hoosiers expect and deserve federal policies that protect both America’s environment and its energy infrastructure now and into the future,” Attorney General Rokita said. “These rules completely fail on that count. That’s why we are taking action to scuttle the flawed new rules and produce a better blueprint to serve businesses, communities and individual households.”
