Everyone of Oklahoma’s members in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are among the 205 members of Congress who have filed legal briefs in federal court in support of a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency over its controversial Clean Power Plan.
The brief filed Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington included the names of U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe and James Lankford as well as Oklahoma U.S. Representatives Tom Cole, Jim Bridenstine, Frank Lucas, Markwayne Mullin and Steve Russell.
“This case involves a new regulation where the agency fails to “conform” to clear congressional instructions and is seeking to usurp the role of congress to establish climate and energy policy for the nation,” read the summary of the argument. “If Congress desired to give EPA sweeping authority to transform the nation’s electricity sector, Congress would have provided for that unprecedented power in detailed legislation.”
The filing joined the legal fight that involves Oklahoma among 29 states that sued over the Clean Power Plan.
“Contrary to the policy choices made by Congress, the Final Rule seeks to transform the nation’s electricity sector by setting carbon dioxide emission reduction mandates for the States,” continued the brief. “Congress never authorized EPA to compel the kind of massive shift in electricity generation effectively mandated in the Final Rule.”
The members of congress argue that the Final Rule goes well beyond the clear statutory directive by, among other things, requiring States to submit, for approval, state or regional energy plans to meet EPA’s predetermined CO2 mandates for their electricity sector.
“Congress has not authorized EPA to make cntral policy choices in the Final Rule, and, in many respects, has affirmatively rejected those policies, as it certainly did with respect to cap-and-trade programs for CO2 emissions from power plants,” added the Senators and Representatives in their legal brief.
Arguments are set to begin June 2 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The case is before an appeals court because under the Clean Air Act, certain challenges to new EPA rules skip the federal district court. Observers believe that whatever the ruling is from the D-C Circuit Court of Appeals, the case will likely be challenged to the U.S. Supreme Court.
