Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge joined 23 other states' offices in sending a letter to Republican leaders, asking the incoming presidential administration and Congress to withdraw the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, according to a news release from the attorney general's office.
The letter was sent to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
The Clean Power Plan, which seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the country by targeting emissions from coal-fired power plants, was implemented by the EPA in 2015. It was not part of a Congressional bill.
Rutledge and 28 other states and state agencies sued over the final rule last year, arguing the rule was a regulatory burden. Proponents of the rule have argued that it will help prevent climate change and serve as a model for other countries.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay on the Clean Power Plan earlier this year, preventing it from going into effect until a lawsuit filed by 27 states, including Arkansas, is resolved. Oral arguments in the case were held in circuit court in Washington, D.C., at the end of September.
Thursday's letter was signed by attorneys general in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, as well as the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, according to the news release.
Metro on 12/16/2016