Obama climate plan's broad scope to face skeptical Supreme Court

(planet-ark, 12 Feb 2016) The U.S. Supreme Court's unexpected move to block President Barack Obama's policy to cut pollution from coal plants highlights what both sides in the legal fight agree is a key weakness in the rules -- a provision that expands the scope of regulation far beyond curbing emissions from individual smoke stacks.

Tuesday's order, in which the court put a halt to the administration's Clean Power Plan while a legal challenge goes forward in a federal appeals court, did not detail why the court's five conservatives believed a stay was warranted.

The challengers, including 27 states, the coal industry, and business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have unleashed a broad array of legal arguments against the policy, which has been in effect since August and is the centerpiece of Obama's strategy to combat climate change.

But lawyers involved in the litigation said on Wednesday that one in particular has the best chance of gaining traction when the high court likely takes a case that decides the overall legality of the rules.

It focuses on a section of the plan set out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that allows states to measure emissions cuts from a variety of sources "beyond the fence line" of power plants, including gains from renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures.

The challengers say the EPA has no authority under the 1970 Clean Air Act to expand its regulation of power plants outside the facilities themselves.

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planet-ark, 12 Feb 2016: Obama climate plan's broad scope to face skeptical Supreme Court