South Carolina – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is once again speaking out against what he calls “federal overreach.” He is part of a group of state attorneys general that is fighting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that could make electricity more expensive and put the future of coal-fired power generation at risk.
Wilson and 23 other attorneys general signed two letters that were sent to the EPA. The first one is against the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), which was set up in 2009 during the Obama administration. The organization says that the initiative goes beyond what the EPA is allowed to do by law and costs too much without showing any environmental advantages. The letter asks the government to do get rid of a lot of the program, which now compels facilities to provide precise emissions data.
The second letter is about a different rule from the Biden administration that sets new limitations on how much water pollution coal-fired power facilities can cause. Twenty-five state attorneys general have asked for more time to comply with the regulation and are telling the EPA to get rid of it completely. The letter says that the rule was meant to make it too expensive for many coal plants to follow the rules, which would have forced them to close early.
Attorney General Wilson stated that the efforts are part of a continuous effort to stop unelected federal officials from making rules that undermine the economy and make energy more expensive.
“Throughout the Obama and Biden administrations, we saw unelected bureaucrats overstepping their authority to do things that were costly and destructive, and every time, I fought against them,” Attorney General Wilson said. “The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program has not been proven necessary to support any authorized purpose, and the Biden-era water pollution rules were apparently meant to push coal plants into retirement.”
Along with 21 other states, Wilson’s office has also entered a lawsuit against the EPA’s rule on water contamination. That case is still open.
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The GHGRP letter was signed by Wilson and attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia. The second letter, which was about the water pollution law, featured many of the same states as the first letter, plus Kansas and Utah.
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Wilson has always worked with other states to protect access to affordable energy and limit what he calls “excessive federal intervention” in South Carolina. His most recent acts follow that pattern, stressing the need to find a balance between environmental policy and economic impact.
