CEO DATELINE - Energy groups praise Supreme Court ruling against EPA
CEO DATELINE - Energy groups praise Supreme Court ruling against EPA
- June 30, 2015 |
-
Walt Williams
| Want more news?
Consider joining CEO Update. Membership gives full access to the latest intelligence on association management, career advancement, compensation trends and networking events, as well as hundreds of listings for senior-level association jobs.
|
The U.S. Supreme Court handed business groups a victory Monday when it blocked an Obama administration initiative to limit emissions of mercury and other pollutants from coal-fired power plants.
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should have first considered how much the new regulation would cost power plants before putting it into effect, according to NPR. The decision comes too late for many power plants, which have already made the upgrades, but it could influence future EPA regulations. http://n.pr/1Hs9pqG
Among the organization that sued to overturn the new emission limits was the National Mining Association, which hailed the court's decision as "a win for common sense."
"The decision effectively puts EPA on notice: Reckless rulemaking that ignores the cost to consumers is unreasonable and won't be tolerated," NMA CEO Hal Quinn said. "It recognizes what the administration has ignored: that every regulatory benefit comes with a cost, and the value of that benefit cannot be known unless its costs are considered."
Also singing the court's praises was the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, which called the decision a rebuke of the EPA's "callous approach to regulations."
"Thanks to today's ruling, the EPA will finally have to listen to the nation's concerns with this poorly constructed, costly rule," ACCCE CEO Mike Duncan said. "Elitist ideas usually carry lofty price tags. When EPA rewrites this regulation, we can only hope it uses real costs and benefit figures rather than those pulled out of its magic bag of tricks."
Finally, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue said the court made it clear the EPA can't "turn a blind eye when it imposes massive costs on our economy in return for minimal environmental benefit."
"The mercury rule at issue today has already shut down dozens of power plants that provided affordable and reliable electricity," Donohue said. "Our nation simply cannot afford to lose even more electricity generation at the hands of an out-of-control EPA."
MORE CEO DATELINE