Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Sierra Club and its environmental allies filed their opening brief in federal court to challenge the Trump Administration’s so-called “ACE” rule—also known as the Dirty Power Plan. Concocted by former coal lobbyist and current EPA chief Andrew Wheeler, this reckless and unlawful rule will allow fossil fuel-burning power plants to keep dumping carbon dioxide pollution into our air with essentially no restraints, driving dangerous climate change to ever more catastrophic levels. In fact, EPA projects that the Dirty Power Plan will increase pollution in large swathes of the country compared to no regulation at all, harming our families and communities and wreaking further havoc on our climate.
Joanne Spalding, Sierra Club’s Deputy Legal Director and Chief Climate Counsel, released the following statement:
“The Dirty Power Plan blatantly violates EPA’s duty under the Clean Air Act to protect the public by reducing climate pollution from fossil fuel-burning power plants, the biggest sources of climate pollution in the country. The rule imposes virtually no controls on coal plant carbon emissions and entirely deregulates existing gas- and oil-burning plants. To make matters worse, EPA’s own analysis projects that by 2030, the rule will cause 24 states and the District of Columbia to experience increased pollution, including carbon pollution, smog and soot.
“To justify its abject failure of a rule, EPA reads words into the Clean Air Act that simply are not there, adopting a bizarre new interpretation of the statute that would tie the agency’s hands and eliminate its ability to meaningfully address climate pollution from this sector. Not surprisingly, this is the exact same legal position that coal companies and their allies used to attack the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan. Make no mistake: Andrew Wheeler is giving the fossil fuel industry exactly what it wants with the Dirty Power Plan, ignoring the law’s requirements and expecting the rest of us to pay the price. That’s why we brought this lawsuit, and it’s why we expect to win in court.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.