Attorney General Alan Wilson joins 21-state coalition supporting Trump energy plan

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Nov. 1, 2018 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a 21-state coalition this week in expressing support for President Trump’s proposed replacement of the so-called Clean Power Plan, a disastrous, Obama-era rule.

The bipartisan coalition, in comments filed late Wednesday with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, described President Trump’s Affordable Clean Energy rule as far preferable to the patently unlawful regime sought by the Obama-era Power Plan.

“President Trump’s proposal would restore the rule of law and return power back to the states,” Attorney General Wilson said. “The new rule would also add some much-needed certainty to our energy industry, both for regulators and for consumers.”

The coalition believes the Affordable Clean Energy rule will respect the important role of states in regulating energy and air quality. It fully embraces Congress’ intent for cooperation between the state and federal governments, correcting the Obama-era, one-size-fits-all model that promised to devastate coal communities across the state and nation.

Such cooperation restores each state’s authority to consider factors specific to the energy needs and facilities in their borders, including costs, practical achievability and the useful life of any particular power plant.

The Trump plan also adopts a more individualized approach to rulemaking with respect for the rule of law, including that the framework of any replacement must set achievable targets for individual plants – a stark contrast to the Obama EPA’s effort to shutter coal-fired power plants in its massive and unlawful overhaul of the nation’s electrical grid.

The coalition, in remaining consistent with prior arguments, expressed some concern and offered a solution for potential double regulation created by the Affordable Clean Energy rule, but otherwise expressed its support.

South Carolina joined the West Virginia-led filing with attorneys general in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, along with Mississippi’s Public Service Commission and Department of Environmental Quality.

Read a copy of the filing at http://bit.ly/2P45xYD.