States Should Think Twice Before Refusing Any Response to EPA's Clean Power Rules

TL;DRAbstract

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed rules for existing power plants play a central role in the Obama Administration’s plans for regulating greenhouse gas emissions to prevent climate change. The rules, technically known as the “Existing Source Performance Standards,” will require a major effort from many states to change their methods of producing electricity, disrupting the status quo in an area long the province of state public service commissions. Not surprisingly, the proposed rules generated an avalanche of comments to EPA ranging from full support to vehement opposition, with the commenters also staking out positions on various technical issues. Law firms are raising questions about the rules' validity and gearing up to take part in the inevitable litigation over them. The high-profile debate has led some critics of the rules to argue that states should oppose them by simply opting out of the entire regulatory process and refusing any response to the rules. The

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