Governor Matt Mead joined his counterparts in eight other states Monday in asking the Environmental Protection Agency to scrap its new carbon pollution rules. The rules call for a 30 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from US power plants by 2030.
In a letter to the agency, the governors say that effectively bans coal-fired power. The EPA disagrees, projecting that coal will still provide 30 percent of the nation’s electricity after the rules are implemented, down from almost 40 percent today.
If that does happen, the difference would be largely made up by power plants switching from more carbon-intensive coal to natural gas. In press conference at the Republican Governor's Association Mead said he doesn’t trust the EPA’s calculations on that front.
“You’re going to get 30 percent [of our nation's electricity] from coal by 2030, you’re going to get 30 percent from natural gas," Mead said, quoting the EPA. "There are so many assumptions into that, including the assumption that we’re going to be able to build pipelines. And as you see Keystone, that was a major question.”
The governors argue in the letter that states should be in charge of regulating emissions. Mead promised to litigate the rules if necessary.
Wyoming already has more than dozen lawsuits pending against the federal government.