US states sue environmental agency over coal regulation

Washington: A group of 23 US states have filed a lawsuit against Environment Protection Agency's Clear Power Plan, charging it was illegal and would be damaging the economic interests of the states and their people.

"West Virginia is proud to lead the charge against this administration's blatant and unprecedented attack on coal," Xinhua news agency quoted West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey as saying on Friday.

On Friday, the 23 states filed the lawsuit with the court of appeals.

The EPA plan seeks to heavily regulate coal and other fossil fuel power plants, and shift much of the electric grid onto renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

US President Barack Obama introduced the Clean Power Plan in August 2015, with other policies that is aimed at cutting carbon pollution and urging instead increased use of alternative energy sources, to curb power plant carbon emissions by 32 percent in the next 15 years.

The EPA claimed to have sweeping power to enact such regulations based on a rarely-used provision of the Clean Air Act, but Morrisey argued that such legal authority did not exist.

"As Attorney General, I have a responsibility to protect the lives of millions of working families, the elderly and the poor, from such illegal and unconscionable Federal Government actions," he said in the release.

American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity President Mike Duncan said on Thursday that policymakers and elected officials across the US oppose the Clean Power Plan that threatens their constituents, state economies and "the nation as a whole".

In May, Obama said climate change is an "immediate risk" to the US national security and should be addressed as soon as possible.