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11 July 2008 -- A federal appeals court rejected the Bush administration's plan to reduce emissions from power plants, ruling the Environmental Protection Agency went beyond its authority to create the Clean Air Interstate Rule. Known as CAIR, the program used a trading scheme among utilities to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides at power plants in 28 located in the East and Midwest.
EPA issued the rule in March 2005 with an aim to cut power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by about 70 percent by 2015. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found the EPA used a flawed approach in developing the CAIR rule, it could not be fixed in a piecemeal manner and the regulation had to be withdrawn.
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson was quoted by Reuters as saying he was "extremely disappointed" with the court's decision. He had yet to be briefed on the court's ruling and did not know what steps the agency would take next. When asked, he did not answer whether there was time left in the Bush administration to rewrite and fix the rule.
The Bush administration can appeal the decision but environmental groups called for Congress and the EPA to quickly begin working on a new law or replacement regulation.
"This is the rare case where environmental groups went to court alongside the Bush administration," MSNBC quoted Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, as saying. "This is without a doubt the worst news of the year when it comes to air pollution."
William Bumpers, an attorney representing Entergy Corp., was quoted by MSNBC as saying that few electric companies flatly opposed the regulation but most generally favored it because it included cap-and-trade provisions. Such provisions allow companies that exceed emissions caps to buy credits from companies that do not.
"The power-generating industry had already invested billions and billions of dollars in anticipation of the trading market," Bumpers said. "They're not happy with this development."
Related Articles of Interest:
Ready, Set&STOP!
EPA's Big Stick
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