West Virginia attorney general asks court to rule power plant rules unlawful

West Virginia has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to declare the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant emission rules unlawful, according to a press release from West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

Morrisey, the state’s governor-elect, has pushed back against the EPA proposed rules since they were announced in May 2023. The rules would require existing coal-fired and new gas-fired power plants to dramatically curtail their carbon emissions in the years ahead.

Stakeholders of West Virginia’s energy industries have said the rules are specifically designed to force coal-fired power plants to close — although numerous officials have said they expect the incoming Trump administration to scrap the rules entirely.

In his challenge with the D.C. Circuit, Morrisey said the EPA’s rules ignored the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA.

“The landmark West Virginia v. EPA is clear that Congress placed real limits on what the EPA can do, and we will ensure those limits are upheld,” he said.

President-elect Donald Trump has already announced his pick to lead the EPA, former New York congressman Lee Zeldin.

West Virginia Attorney General-elect John “J.B.” McCuskey recently said Zeldin is likely to quash the proposed rules.

“That is obviously our hope,” he said. “I am very hopeful that the new secretary, Zeldin, is going to be a pro-coal, pro-gas, pro-West Virginia energy secretary.”

Gov. Jim Justice, who soon will be the state’s next U.S. senator, held an event at Independence Hall in Wheeling shortly after the release of the rules. The governor was joined by a group of coal miners.

“The EPA and White House’s tone is clear: West Virginia doesn’t matter,” Justice said. “We are being told to close our facilities and send workers home without considering the economic impact. All West Virginians need to support our miners right now.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., was recently elevated to No. 4 position in the GOP Senate leadership team and is slated to serve as chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Capito has also expressed confidence that an EPA run by Zeldin would not implement the rules as they were announced.

“I think you’ll see this regulation and these rules that have come forward dramatically fall by the wayside, or be reshaped,” she said. “And I would anticipate that we’ll do that through our committee. It will not [stand] as is and cannot stand as is.”