LOS ANGELES – City Attorney Mike Feuer today announced that Los Angeles has joined a broad national coalition of 19 U.S. states and seven cities filing comments in opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed effort, at the direction of the Trump administration, to repeal Carbon Pollution Guidelines for existing power plants under the Clean Power Plan of 2015 and failing to have any alternative rules established. The coalition is led by the state of New York and includes a broad coalition of states Attorney Generals and cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and the District of Columbia.
Based on the legal and scientific evidence presented in the comments, the coalition is demanding that the EPA abandon its proposed repeal of the Clean Power plan and instead consider rules and guidelines to strengthen pollution reductions.
"Our kids are counting on us to protect our environment," said Feuer. "Today cities and states across our nation stand united in the fight to reduce pollution and protect Americans' health and safety. It's grimly ironic that our opponent in this fight is the EPA, a fact that makes the roles of cities and states all the more important."
Published in October 2015, the Clean Power Plan sets limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants and other existing stationary sources across the country. The comments submitted by the coalition outline how repealing that plan, without replacing it with any alternative rules, would be a violation of the EPA’s obligations under the Clean Air Act.
The submitted comments also suggest that the EPA’s revised analysis of the Clean Power Plan and its proposal to repeal existing guidelines underestimates the regulations environmental health and safety benefits while exaggerating its costs.
A final copy of the submitted comments is here.
The complete list of entities signing the brief is:
State of New York
State of California
State of Connecticut
State of Delaware
State of Hawaii
State of Illinois
State of Iowa
State of Maine
State of Maryland
State of Massachusetts
State of Minnesota
State of New Mexico
State of North Carolina
State of Oregon
State of Pennsylvania
State of Rhode Island
State of Vermont
State of Virginia
State of Washington
District of Columbia
City of Bolder, Colorado
City of Chicago, Illinois
City of Los Angeles, California
City of New York, New York
City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
City of South Miami, Florida
Broward County, Florida
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