Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Says Clean Power Plan is Illegal

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey testified in front of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee Tuesday saying the EPA’s Clean Power Plan is illegal.

At a hearing entitled, the “Legal Implications of the Clean Power Plan” held in Washington, DC, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, along with four others; spoke before U.S. Senators on the legality of the EPA’s clean power proposal. The EPA’s plan is due to be finalized this summer and would require the nation to reduce its carbon emission rate by 30% by 2030. Senator Shelley Moore Capito was the chairwoman of the subcommittee.

Morrisey expressed concern for the economies of West Virginia and other energy states, asking for the plan to be re-evaluated.

“This proposed rule is actually causing real, tangible harm in the states, and also it’s affecting power plant operations currently,” Morrisey said, “If you go and look at our litigation, we have at least eight declarations from very experienced environmental regulators who talk about the cost of trying to comply with this rule. The other point that I would raise, is that the time frames associated with this proposal are hyper-aggressive.”

Morrisey claims the proposed regulations are illegal because they seek to require states to regulate coal-fired power plants when the EPA already regulates those same plants under the hazardous air pollutant program. Morrisey says amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990 prohibited double regulation.