UPDATE: The big news is at the bottom. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has lost another court round in her fight against rules to clean up power plant emissions, though she’d indicated earlier in the day that she has not intention of dropping her fight against cleaner air.

In chronological order:

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The Sierra Club again today called down Attorney General Leslie Rutledge for fighting cleaner air.

Specifically, Rutledge issued a statement objecting to the Environmental Protection Agency’s court-ordered analysis of costs of proposed mercury and air toxics standards meant to reduce pollution from power plants.

Glen Hooks,
director of the Arkansas Sierra Club, said in response:

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“Attorney General Rutledge begins her second year in office the same way she spent her first year: standing with dirty polluters against common-sense clean air protections. The proposed MATS standard is aimed at reducing some of the most harmful pollutants—including dangerous mercury, a known neurotoxin that threatens children and women of childbearing age. Protecting Arkansans from mercury pollution should be an issue that the Sierra Club and our Attorney General agree upon. Sadly, Rutledge has chosen once again to align herself with the polluters instead of the people.

“When the proposed MATS standards were remanded, the Court ordered EPA to quantify the costs of the standards. Accordingly, the EPA carefully examined the costs of MATS and found that they were both: (1) reasonable in light of the massively consequential harms caused by power plants’ emissions of mercury and other air toxics, and (2) and vastly smaller than the benefits of the rule, which are many times higher than the costs to industry. 

“In short, MATS will lead to healthier Arkansans and cleaner air, and do so in way that is economically reasonable. Attorney General Rutledge’s continued opposition to clean air and water continues to disappoint those who care about The Natural State.”

You can read Rutledge’s statement here. She expressed an interest in a fuller accounting of utility and consumer costs of reducing pollution.

Given the ongoing disaster of state-helped poisoning of a city water supply,she chose a poor time to announce an alignment with Michigan on an environmental question:

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In addition to her own comments, Rutledge also joined comments from the State of Michigan, which assert: “To weigh the Rule’s benefits and costs, the EPA must compare and balance them, not simply identify them. The EPA must revise its analysis to weigh the benefits and costs and assess whether there are any positive net benefits. Then, based on that revised evaluation the agency must determine whether regulation is ‘appropriate.’”

UPDATE: Later in the day, big news broke, specifically this news today from Washington:

The D.C. Circuit on Thursday refused to put the Clean Power Plan on hold until legal challenges to the rule are completed, handing the Obama administration a significant early victory as it looks to defend and implement the sweeping regulations that would slash carbon emissions from existing power plants.

Dozens of states and industry groups have petitioned the appeals court to overturn the CPP crafted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or at the very least, block it from being implemented ….

Rutledge, who has been part of this legal challenge, has been set back repeatedly in the D.C. court. The Sierra Club naturally cheered the decision and Hooks commented:

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“For more than a year, the Sierra Club and other Arkansas stakeholders have been working to develop a strong, smart way for our state to meet its Clean Power Plan goals. This collaborative group of environmentalists, utilities, industry, regulators, and state officials are committed to reducing carbon pollution while simultaneously improving our Arkansas’s health and economy. I’m optimistic that we, together, will take full advantage of this opportunity to build a stronger Arkansas.

“Today’s decision marks the third time that Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has challenged the Clean Power Plan in court, and the third time that the challenge has been unsuccessful. I urge our Attorney General to stop opposing clean air protections and wasting taxpayer resources on endless legal challenges. As a lifelong Arkansan, I’d happily welcome our Attorney General to join us at the table as we usher Arkansas into a clean energy future.”

It’s a good time to remember some of Ernie Dumas’ good analysis on the clean power issue and how woefully Arkansas politicans are out of step. Even major utilities are getting on board.

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