Arizona Attorney General Brnovich To Feds: EPA Clean Energy Edict Is Overreach
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While environmentalists are applauding new carbon emissions standards set by the Obama administration, Arizona’s top law enforcement official is not.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich has requested a stay against the federal government, attempting to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing its clean power initiative announced this week.
Brnovich believes the plan is fundamentally flawed and unlawful. He said in a statement that the Obama Administration doesn’t have the legal authority to issue the mandate. He’s joined attorneys general in 15 other states in filing a stay against the Clean Power Plan.
Even though the EPA reduced its original emission standards for Arizona, Brnovich said the edict is an overreach, will be costly for consumers and could create other problems related to power consumption.
“That’s still going to have a significant impact on Arizona’s economy and our utility rates and possibly even create brownouts in the future," Brnovich said. "The second issue is whether the EPA even has the authority to do so. We know that they’re relying on a four decades old law that wasn’t even meant to address carbon emissions.”
Brnovich, who accuses the Administration of using the EPA to bypass Congress said the stay would allow the courts to weigh in on the legality of the rule before it is implemented.
“I want clean air, I want clean water. But what we also need to know is that there are serious costs associated with this plan that are going to have a dubious impact on our environment. And so we need to ask ourselves, are these radical costs worth the negative impact it’s going to have on our environment.”
Other states joining Arizona in similar legal action are Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
