Isra-Mart srl:EPA wins crucial victory in carbon regulation legal fight

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-Mart srl news:

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has secured a major victory in the long-running legal battle challenging its right to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Late last week, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected a raft of cases brought by business groups arguing that the EPA had overstepped its authority in introducing regulations designed to curb carbon emissions.

Critics of the rules, which include utilities, oil refiners and the state of Texas, have argued the regulations will damage the economy and maintain that the EPA used flawed evidence to reach the landmark ruling that allows it to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the existing Clean Air Act.

However, the court said in a statement that none of the challenges met the strict standards required for a stay pending court review and that the companies "have not shown that the harms they allege are 'certain', rather than speculative".

The ruling was welcomed by environmental groups as clearing the way for the EPA to continue as planned and introduce new rules from January 2 next year that will require new and upgraded carbon-intensive facilities such as power plants to hold state-issued permits to emit greenhouse gases. The rules will require any new or uprgraded facility to demonstrate that they have used the most efficient technology available to help curb emissions.

"We're glad the court rejected these baseless attempts by polluters to stall progress toward cleaner cars and safer air," said Earthjustice managing attorney David Baron, who helped represent Environmental Defense Fund as an intervenor in opposing the stay motions.

However, the ruling was critcised by the losing parties, such as the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA), which said the decision marked a blow to the "economic well-being of the American people".

"We're disappointed that the court has chosen to deny our motion for a partial stay of EPA's greenhouse gas regulations," said Charles T. Drevna, president of NPRA, in a statement on Friday. "Unfortunately, today's court decision only further enables EPA to continue down the road of costly, ineffective regulation of our nation's economy."

Despite the EPA's victory the battle is set to continue into next year with various industry groups expected to appeal the court's decision and the newly Republican-controlled House of Representatives threatening to launch a series of investigations into the EPA's role regulating emissions.