Armstrong Joins Amicus Brief in Pending Clean Air Act Supreme Court Case
Statement
Today, Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) joined 47 senators and 43 House members on an amicus curiae brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the petitioners, including the state of North Dakota, in the pending case West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency.
The members, led by Senator Shelley More Capito (R-WV) and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) agree that the EPA acted outside its congressionally-authorized authority by issuing significantly overreaching rules - namely the Clean Power Plan - to attempt to transform the nation's power sector through emissions regulations under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.
"The Clean Power Plan would be expensive for consumers, hostile to America's energy producers, and undermine reliable baseload power," said Congressman Armstrong. "States like North Dakota are best equipped to implement policies that keep our air and water clean, not the federal government. I am hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court will agree."
The brief states, "If Congress had intended to give the EPA such sweeping authority to transform an entire sector of our economy, Congress would have done so explicitly. An administrative agency like the EPA may decide issues of such vast economic and political significance only when the agency can point to "clear congressional authorization.'
Decisions regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the power sector are major policy questions with vast economic and political significance. Only elected members of Congress, representing the will of the people, may decide these questions. The EPA's attempt to issue expansive regulations cannot stand in the absence of clear congressional authorization.
Congress knows how to address greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years, Congress has decided to pass transformative laws that incentivize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from a wide range of industries, including the electric power sector."
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