The Supreme Court ruled to delay implementation of federal regulations that would cut down on carbon emissions and require more use of renewable energy. But Ohio environmental advocates are staying optimistic.
The Supreme Court sided with Ohio and 28 other states in delaying implementation of the U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan.
Dan Tierney with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office says the federal government is overextending its authority adding that a one size fits all mentality hurts a state like Ohio.
“We’ve got a different mix of energy than you might see in California, or you might see in the Plain states or you might see in Florida. So in those respects it makes since that Ohio makes decision that are locally based by people who know Ohio,” Tierney said.
But the Ohio Environmental Council believes the courts will eventually rule for it. The OEC’s Brennan Howell says the Clean Power Plan is just a continuation of policies already in motion in Ohio.
“We’ve been previously implementing energy efficiency policies which have saved Ohioans over a billion dollars on their energy bills. We’ve been putting up wind turbines. We’ve been doing a lot of these kinds of things and the Clean Power Plan just continues that pathway,” said Howell.
Those green energy policies Howell’s talking about were frozen in Ohio in 2014 but the freeze lifts at the end of this year.
