Climate fight shifts to courts

The Hill cites CEI`s William Yeatman on Obama`s Clean Air Act:

“That is the most viable pathway by which the rule will be stopped during the Obama administration, because whatever the Congress does, he could veto,” said William Yeatman, a fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Given the high stakes of the fight, the litigants are nearly certain to appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

More than a dozen states joined energy interests earlier this year in an attempt to block the proposed carbon limits for power plants. While that effort failed, the dry run helped the litigants sharpen their arguments for the bigger battle to come.

Their arguments will rest on whether the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) actions fall in line with the Clean Air Act and the Constitution.

Opponents of the rule believe strongly that the EPA stepped out of line, while the agency and its allies are confident that the courts will uphold it as a lawful use of executive power.

“I do believe the rule, as finalized, suffers from a number of legal infirmities,” said Yeatman, whose group is likely to join the litigation on behalf of the challengers.