Attorney General Brad Schimel announced Friday that Wisconsin has joined a coalition of 24 states and a coal mining company which filed lawsuits challenge the most Obama Administration’s climate change rule for power plants. In a press release, Schimel said carbon emissions regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency constitute “an unlawful plan to radically restructure the way electricity is produced and consumed throughout the country.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is taking the lead in the suit, which asks the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn the rule, known as the known as the Clean Power Plan. They also want the court to immediately stop its implementation while it works its way through the courts. Morrisey called it “the single most onerous and illegal regulations that we’ve seen coming out of D.C. in a long time.”
“As one of the top manufacturing states in the nation, it is imperative that we join this fight against federal overreach into energy regulation in Wisconsin,” Schimel said. The attorney general said Wisconsin is required to reduce emissions by 41 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission estimated the proposed rule would cost the state as much as $13.4 billion. It’s likely the final version will add to these costs, which will ultimately be paid by consumers who could see their electric bills go up significantly.