ST. PAUL – Citing the concern of declining affordable energy availability for families, businesses and communities throughout Minnesota, State Representative Dave Hancock (R-Bemidji) and other lawmakers have penned a letter to Attorney General Lori Swanson asking her to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a federal court over the Clean Power Plan.
The plan, which mandates Minnesota reduce utility carbon emissions by over 40 percent by 2030, could lead to closures of coal-fired power plants which would further increase energy costs and create substantial job losses.
"With this rule, the federal government has completely overreached," Hancock said. "Government should not be in the job-killing business, nor should it be making the price of energy unaffordable for consumers. Yet both of those scenarios are likely to happen in Minnesota under the Clean Power Plan, which is why we need our attorney general to take action."
Hancock noted that Minnesota is a national leader when it comes to protecting the environment,
spending billions of dollars to reduce pollution and increase energy efficiency over the past ten years.
More than 40 state lawmakers signed the letter to Attorney General Swanson urging her to take action.