Opponents and Supporters of EPA’s Clean Power Plan Await Court Ruling

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State Attorney General Scott Pruitt and 27 other attorneys general await a decision of a D-C Circuit Court of Appeals following a Tuesday hearing into their challenge of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, one they call overreach by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Pruitt was on hand for the hearing which could result in the EPA’s plan to eventually shut down coal-fired power plants across the U.S. including six in Oklahoma.

“It’s been a very in tense day and important day for Oklahoma and across the country< ‘said Pruitt afterward in an interview with News 9’s Dana Hertneky.

“In Oklahoma we generate electricity in natural gas, oil, renewable energy and that diversity of fuel options helps keep prices low and helps keep stability in the market.”

He contends electricity rates will soar if the coal-fired power plants are shut down.

Johnson Bridgwater of the Oklahoma Sierra Club has a different view.

“Right now, power plants are the number one producer of greenhouse gas emissions which are the number one contributor to the issue of climate change,” he stated. “What is more important is we slow or stop climate change. If we don’t do everything in our power we are going to see drastic effects get worse and worse and weather and agriculture being a big part of Oklahoma that’s our number one concern.”