New Jersey’s attorney general is joining 22 states suing to block the Trump administration’s proposed reversal of an Obama-era rule aimed at clamping down on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and moving away from coal.
The change from the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency – known as the Affordable Clean Energy rule – violates the Clean Air Act, according to the suit, filed Tuesday in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Federal officials unveiled the ACE in 2018, and finalized the proposal in June, which aims to loosen standards for how much greenhouse gas power plants can emit.
Grewal
“At a time when experts call on us to combat the threat of climate change, Washington refuses to hold the biggest polluters accountable,” Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a Tuesday statement.
“EPA is required to make sure power plants are using their best technology to reduce their emissions. This rule instead gives power plants and the coal industry a blank check to keep putting our environment and our health at risk,” Grewal added.
Earlier this month, Grewal signed onto a suit against the Trump administration’s plans to soften fines for automakers that violate federal fuel efficiency standards.
He has signed onto several other multi-state suits in opposition of the Trump administration’s policies, such as opposition to federal immigration policies, a $10,000 cap on state and local property tax deductions, and student loan borrower rights.
