Walker, Schimel Applaud Supreme Court Stay Of Obama Power Plant Rules

Wisconsin’s Republican governor and attorney general are cheering a U.S. Supreme Court decision to temporarily halt a wide-ranging plan by President Barack Obama’s administration to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Several states, including Wisconsin, have joined a lawsuit that seeks to keep the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing the White House’s Clean Power Plan. The Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday that puts the new rules on hold while the legal case plays out.

Gov. Scott Walker, who’s been a vocal critic of the regulations, issued a statement calling the court’s decision a “win.”

The statement continued:

This rule clearly exceeds the President’s authority and could increase costs to Wisconsin ratepayers and businesses by up to $13 billion. We will continue working to protect Wisconsin’s families and manufacturing industry from the potentially devastating impact of this presidential overreach.

The state’s challenge to the Clean Power Plan is being headed up by Attorney General Brad Schimel. In a tweet Tuesday evening, he said the temporary stay shows the “obvious illegality” of the plan.

“It’s extraordinary for SCOTUS to grant a stay and is telling of the obvious illegality of the Clean Power Plan.” -AG Schimel

— WI AG Brad Schimel (@WisDOJ) February 9, 2016

Environmental advocacy group Earthjustice responded with a statement calling the Obama plan a “vital, common-sense safeguard that will drastically reduce the U.S.’s largest source of carbon emissions.”

The statement also emphasized the temporary nature of the stay, saying: “The battle to defend the Clean Power Plan is far from over.”