Nearly all of Kentucky’s federal representatives have formally filed a document in support of a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon dioxide regulations.
The Clean Power Plan sets carbon reduction goals for each state, and is part of President Obama’s overall goal of addressing climate change. Last year, a coalition of states—including Kentucky—sued to overturn the rule.
The amicus brief filed by more than 200 U.S. Senators and Representatives supports the challenges against the EPA’s rule. All of Kentucky’s Republican senators and congressmen—which is all of the state’s federal delegation except for Third District Congressman John Yarmuth—signed on to the brief.
The Clean Power Plan has been politically controversial in Kentucky, where coal still provides more than 90 percent of the electricity. But over the past decade, the industry has struggled due to competition from natural gas, rising production costs in the Eastern Kentucky coalfields and updated pollution standards.
