The WSJ is at it again, this time with an editorial attacking the Clean Power Plan. Like the attacks from yesterday and the day before, this one is shallow and faulty. In fact, once you cut through the rhetoric, the only substantive criticism is one that no longer applies!
In the original draft of the rule, the EPA set emissions limits for each state, but this went beyond existing precedents, which hold the EPA can only regulate the sources of emissions. The key technical term was "fence line," meaning that the EPA only has jurisdiction "inside the fence line" of polluting facilities, and not throughout the states.
Having heard this criticism when the draft rule came out, the EPA adjusted the final rule, setting emissions limits for the power plants themselves. That way every coal plant in the country has to meet the same standard, instead of each state having to meet its own goal. By making this change, the EPA eliminated the one legal hurdle that experts considered legitimate. Opponents still make other allegations, but EPA officials and legal experts have written those off as very unlikely to impede the plan's progress.
It seems the WSJ didn't bother to look at the EPA's changes to the plan—even though the agency released a document describing the changes—and instead included the fence line issue as a central part of its attack on the plan's legality.
With the fence line issue out of the way, what's left is the Journal's indignation that Obama dared to take action on climate. The editorial accuses him of "regulation without representation" and argues the rule is "one man's order." This totally ignores the fact that polling shows 79% of Americans want more research into renewables and 66% want clean energy standards. It also ignores the reality that 60% of utility executives embrace the Clean Power Plan or think it should be even more aggressive.
In sum, the WSJ's third attempt in as many days to malign the Clean Power Plan reveals—to the Journal's embarrassment—that editorial writers couldn't be bothered to read the rule before voicing strong opinions. This appears to be a recurring problem…
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