CEI Comments on EPA’s Clean Power Plan

Midnight marked the deadline for commenting on EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan. Below, I’ve posted 2 comments submitted by CEI.

In the first, my colleague Marlo Lewis explains that the proposal is illegitimate and illegal. His is a comprehensive case, and I recommend it highly if you’re interested in getting up to speed on this monstrous regulation. My comments are narrower, and argue that even if the courts were to somehow conclude that this rule does not violate the Clean Air Act, the Constitution, and canons of statutory construction, it nonetheless violates the EPA’s own implementing regulations. The Clean Power Plan, therefore, runs afoul of a key administrative law principle: namely, that an extant regulation carries the force of law. Because it is inconsistent with its underlying regulation, EPA’s Clean Power Plan is an impermissible exercise of authority.

Marlo Lewis CLean Power Plan Comment