Contact:

Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797

Katie Brown Katie_Brown@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-2160

Court Strikes Down Obama-EPA's Cross State Air Pollution Rule as an Illegal, Flawed Regulation  

Washington, D.C. - Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, commented on today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the Obama-EPA exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act in crafting its Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR).

"As today's court ruling on the Cross State Air Pollution Rule exemplifies, the Obama-EPA continues to exceed its authority and is living up to its 'reputation for abuse,' - I am pleased that the courts have reined in EPA on this illegal, flawed rule," Senator Inhofe said. "With CSAPR, EPA moved too far too fast, setting unrealistic deadlines for states to meet its stringent requirements; the agency also pushed ahead without any regard for the fact that states were intended to play the primary role in reducing emissions.

"As the court's CSAPR ruling rightly explains, EPA's plan rests on 'rickety statutory logic.' This is not the first time EPA has used a dubious foundation to justify its extremist agenda. Today's ruling follows three significant court rulings which found that EPA overreached to the point that the judge in one case said EPA was using 'magical thinking' and aggregating 'a stunning power' to itself. Now given EPA's track record, it will not be surprising if the courts also rein in EPA's Utility MACT rule, which suffers from similar flawed data assumptions and unrealistic time frames.

"The Obama-EPA continues to demonstrate that it will stop at nothing in its determination to kill coal. Remember that CSAPR and Utility MACT together will shutter up to 20% of America's coal fired capacity, raising electricity rates across the nation and destroying around 1.6 million jobs. With so much economic pain in store, it is fortunate that EPA was sent back to the drawing board on CSAPR. I look forward to a similar ruling on Utility MACT so that we can get on the right track to crafting policies that reduce emissions without destroying our economy and millions of jobs along the way."

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