EPA Fuel Switch Plan Scrutinized At Forum
Coal phaseout plan seen as too expensive, group says
By Paul Monies, NewsOK.com
An environmental compliance plan by Public Service Co. of Oklahoma to end its use of coal in the state will cost too much money for the utility’s customers and limit fuel diversity, a researcher for a libertarian think tank said Thursday.
The paper by the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute was released at a forum on the costs of federal environmental regulation hosted by the Oklahoma chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
At the forum, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and U.S. Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, said the Environmental Protection Agency and the Obama administration were exceeding their authority on a number of environmental rules affecting electric generating plants and their ratepayers.
Pruitt, whose office is involved in several lawsuits against the EPA, said the Clean Air and Clean Water acts were drafted with the idea that states would be involved.