States feud over fossil fuels in federal court

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

September 26, 2016 | 5:31 PM

Gene J. Puskar / AP Photo

Steve Earle, international vice president of the United Mine Workers, from Greenville, Ky., center, marches with international president, Cecil Roberts, left center, as they lead some 5000 members of the United Mine Workers and supporters through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh July, 2014 to protest Obama’s Clean Power Plan. A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments related to the challenge on Tuesday morning. Puskar / AP Photo

A federal court in Washington, D.C. will be hearing arguments Tuesday morning about the future of the country’s electricity. President Obama’s landmark climate change initiative will be subjected to arguments from both sides, with 28 states aligned with coal companies facing off against the EPA, which is backed by a number of other states and environmentalists.
The Clean Power Plan is Obama’s giant push to make the nation’s electricity cleaner, and signal to the international community that the world’s second largest carbon emitter is doing something to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. The plan gives states different options to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas causing carbon emissions from their existing power plants.
But the controversial plan is opposed by the coal industry, which says it will force coal plants to shut down and cause power plants to convert to natural gas or renewables to comply. Proponents of the plan argue that the coal industry’s woes have nothing to do with the Clean Power Plan, but rather, with the availability of cheaper natural gas from new plays like Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale. More than 40 new natural gas plant applications have been submitted to Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection within the last five years.
The United States Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia will be hearing the arguments en banc, meaning all justices will be present except Merrick Garland, who is Obama’s Supreme Court nominee and has recused himself. Although Pennsylvania is not party to the lawsuit, Governor Wolf supports the plan and a spokesman says the state is watching the ongoing litigation closely.
Philadelphia, along with 25 other cities, counties and states have intervened in support of the President’s plan. Pittsburgh and West Chester submitted amicus briefs.
Andrew Sharp is deputy director for policy at the Philadelphia Office of Sustainability.
Sharp says Philadelphia has already begun to experience flooding and more high heat days from climate change, and needs the federal plan to continue to adapt and prepare for climate change.
“We’re excited to play a role in this,” Sharp said, “obviously we need the federal government and the EPA to set the rules of the road, and that’s why we support the Clean Power Plan.”
States that have challenged the plan say the EPA is trampling on state’s rights, and has overstepped its authority granted by the Clean Air Act in how it has decided to regulate carbon from power plants. Opponents also argue that the EPA cannot force states to favor one form of energy generation over another.
Robert Henneke, with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, filed an amicus brief on behalf of energy companies and manufacturers.
“The Clean Power Plan usurps powers reserved to the states under the 10th amendment,” said Henneke. “Neither Congress nor the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to do what it’s doing with the Clean Power Plan.”
Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a bill that would require the Department of Environmental Protection to submit its plan to lawmakers who would have 100 days to approve or reject the plan. Some have questioned the constitutionality of that law.