GHG Daily
1/13/2016
The state of Florida may soon join the ranks of states refusing to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants. Two bills introduced on Jan. 12, a state Senate version and a state House of Representatives version, would prohibit Florida from complying with the regulations, which require states to develop action plans to meet federally set carbon emissions reduction goals.
Under the Senate bill “a state agency or instrumentality of the state may not implement rules or regulations or submit a state or multistate implementation plan to the United States Environmental Protection Agency which limits or attempts to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing stationary sources.” The House bill includes nearly identical language.
Five other states have already refused to submit plans. These states – Indiana, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Wisconsin, and Mississippi – argue the Clean Power Plan is unlikely to survive legal challenge. Each of these states currently has a Republican governor.
