Fighting federal overreach and job-killing climate extremism, Attorney General Todd Rokita leads multistate suit against Biden-Harris 'Clean Power Plan 2.0'

Monday, September 9, 2024 at 6:00 PM

Taking the next step in a lawsuit of massive ramifications, Attorney General Todd Rokita and fellow plaintiffs have filed an opening brief in federal appeals court asserting that an invasive new EPA rule is unlawful.

Further, if implemented, the Biden-Harris administration rule would 1) threaten the reliability of America’s power grid, 2) jack up utility costs for U.S. consumers, 3) destroy jobs and 4) wreck the nation’s economy.

“This extremist rule would prove absolutely devastating to everyday, hardworking Hoosiers,” Attorney General Rokita said. “It would expand the federal government’s control of people’s lives without even helping conserve the natural environment in any meaningful way. Plus it would kill jobs.”

Attorney General Rokita announced in May that he and West Virginia’s attorney general were co-leading a 25-state lawsuit opposing the Biden-Harris administration’s “Clean Power Plan 2.0.” Other states and industry are challenging the rule as well.

The EPA rule takes deadly aim at coal-fired power plants — requiring many to capture 90% of carbon emissions using expensive, unproven technology. And in the meantime, as federal bureaucrats promise a future filled with unspecified "green" jobs, the EPA's rule forces the premature closure of these plants. This takes a two-part hit on Hoosiers: the killing of jobs and the expansion of the federal government's control over everyday people's lives.

Countless hard workers are put in imminent and long-term peril, including the jobs of people in coal-fired power plants and adjacent employees who work for companies which provide supplies, transportation, logistics and other day-to-day services. By causing higher energy costs across all industries, the rule also forces budget-cutting and a potentially seismic reduction in the overall work force. This rule exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and gives insufficient consideration to important facts, such as cost and grid reliability.

“There is no justification — none — for surrendering state and local authority to power-hungry unelected bureaucrats in the federal government,” Attorney General Rokita said. “And we certainly face no dire crisis requiring us to torpedo our state and national economy.”

While the Biden administration seeks to appease the powerful political forces behind a radical climate agenda, Attorney General Rokita and his allies seek to preserve reliable energy at affordable prices.