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posted by n1 on Tuesday June 30 2015, @05:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-a-walk-in-the-park dept.

In a major setback for President Obama and for people who like to breathe, the court (in a 5-4 decision split along party lines) struck down a set of recent EPA regulations aimed at limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Quoth the Guardian:

The justices embraced the arguments from the industry and 21 Republican-led states that the EPA rules were prohibitively expensive and amounted to government overreach.

The decision, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, ruled that the EPA did not reasonably consider the cost factor when drafting regulation.

The Clean Air Act had directed the EPA to create regulations for power plants that were "appropriate and necessary". The agency did not consider cost when making its decision, the court ruled, but estimated that the cost of its regulation to power plants would be $9.6bn a year.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @06:30AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @06:30AM (#203198)

    Only the US considers property and money more important than life. Whether it's letting people kill others to defend property or letting major corporations pollute rather than pay to be clean, in America life is worth little. Sorta like slavery... Good thing you all have guns.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by penguinoid on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:19AM

    by penguinoid (5331) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:19AM (#203214)

    Only the US considers property and money more important than life.

    Every single country ever, and almost every individual, considers substantial amounts of property and money more important than life. For example, countries (and soldiers) fight wars. Even more so, people allow people in other countries to die from curable diseases or unsanitary water, and almost no one donates all but what they absolutely need to survive to prevent those deaths. Don't kid yourself -- most people value material goods over lives almost every second of every day, except when they have a personal connection to the life at stake.

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:30AM

    by frojack (1554) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:30AM (#203219) Journal

    Only the US considers property and money more important than life. Whether it's letting people kill others to defend property or letting major corporations pollute rather than pay to be clean, in America life is worth little. Sorta like slavery... Good thing you all have guns.

    Oh climb down before you hurt yourself.

    Germany is burning some of the dirtiest coal in the world. Not a word out of you about that?

    The EPA rule took effect for some plants in April and was due to go into full effect by next year. In the meantime, the rule remains in effect, lawyers working on the case told Reuters. The ruling only concerns the cost consideration, so the EPA may try to write the rule again with cost in mind.

    So tempest in a tea pot. All that rant for nothing. A whole teaspoon of bile down the drain for nothing!

    When setting the time frames, the EPA did not even allow for the manufacturing time for the equipment, they just supposed it into existence, which of course could not possibly be met regardless of the price. The EPA will go back, allow for cost of rushing production, delay things a year or two, and it will all get done.

    In the meantime, the US regulations are the STRICTEST in the world [dw.com]. When they get implemented here, Germany and China will have to run hard just to catch up.

    Compare to the Chinese standard (0.03 mg/m3) - Also the standard in all of the EU, including Germany:
    1) U.S. standard, as it applies to a Bituminous coal plant: 0.0017 mg/m3
    2) U.S. standard, as it applies to a Lignite coal plant: 0.0153 mg/m3

    Our Lignite standard is HALF the Chinese/EU standard for ALL plants. Even their Bituminous plants are worse than our Lignite plants!!!
    The Chinese/EU standards for Mercury is 17 times the US standard for Bituminous.

    So while the EPA rewrites the cost alliances, (tax write offs, additional time to comply, what ever) the plants currently having scrubbers installed will be going ahead, under the regulations that will remain in effect. While the rest of the world continues to pollute at alarming rates.

    Maybe next time do just a TINY bit of research before you start your hate spew!

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    • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:49AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:49AM (#203227)

      So, your argument can be broken up into two parts:

      1) But others do it, too!

      So? This isn't about them.

      Now that we've dispensed with that completely irrelevant crap, let's get on to:

      2) They can try again.

      And the courts will be used again, and again, until the interests have watered down the rules so far that they're basically a waste of time.

      • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:23AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @10:23AM (#203261)

        Your argument started with "only the US...", so it does matter what other countries do because it both makes your argument wrong and you an idiot.

        • (Score: 2) by penguinoid on Wednesday July 01 2015, @04:20AM

          by penguinoid (5331) on Wednesday July 01 2015, @04:20AM (#203621)

          Your argument started with "only the US...", so it does matter what other countries do because it both makes your argument wrong and you an idiot.

          Only the US shares borders with both Canada and Mexico. Only the US has this many prisoners. Only the US spends this much total money on its military. Only the US has the biggest GDP of any country. Only the US has sent a man to walk on the moon.

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          RIP Slashdot. Killed by greedy bastards.
      • (Score: 2) by Adamsjas on Tuesday June 30 2015, @04:17PM

        by Adamsjas (4507) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @04:17PM (#203348)

        If you re-read it, you will see his argument is exactly only part. The US regulations are already the tightest in the world for HG from coal plants, and they are being met.

        The rules aren't being watered down, in fact there is no indication of any change at all yet, other than that the EPA must take cost into compliance. The rules still stand. The court case ruled only about costs, and deadlines when fines kick in.

        You think industry protests and chalenges are different than any place else?
        Maybe look here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/14/german-backlash-grows-against-coal-power-clampdown [theguardian.com]

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @12:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @12:46PM (#203282)

      I don't always see eye to eye with your comments but this was one hell of a good one. Thanks for breaking it down and making me feel that this wasn't going to release an onslaught of stupid laws.

    • (Score: 2) by fliptop on Tuesday June 30 2015, @04:16PM

      by fliptop (1666) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @04:16PM (#203347) Journal

      When setting the time frames, the EPA did not even allow for the manufacturing time for the equipment, they just supposed it into existence, which of course could not possibly be met regardless of the price

      This. One of the local power plants already has been shut down [theintelligencer.net] to comply w/ the EPA rules because they couldn't afford to retrofit and meet the new standards.

      "No one cares more about the air we breathe and the water we drink than the people who live here in along the Ohio River. However, there must be a balance between health regulation and excessive costs that would have a chilling impact on coal jobs and the cost of electricity in eastern and southeastern Ohio," [said Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio].

      --
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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @05:34PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @05:34PM (#203385)

        "No one cares more about the air we breathe and the water we drink than the people who live here in along the Ohio River. However, there must be a balance between health regulation and excessive costs that would have a chilling impact on coal jobs and the cost of electricity in eastern and southeastern Ohio," [said Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio].

        Its too expensive to properly dispose of this nuclear waste, therefore we'll just dump it into the river. After all, if its deemed "too expensive" by our company, that means we can just ignore it! Horray for precedents set after regulatory capture and bought representatives!

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by TheGratefulNet on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:43PM

        by TheGratefulNet (659) on Tuesday June 30 2015, @07:43PM (#203460)

        energy industry crying 'oh, poor me!' ?

        really?

        REALLY?

        we're too poor to afford to make clean energy.

        yeah, I TOTALLY believe them. they can just barely keep their families fed, those poor babies. lets give them a pass and help those low-income CEO's afford to clean the air and water. its only our ONLY AIR AND WATER, what harm could there be on a little pollution between friends?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @06:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 30 2015, @06:03PM (#203404)

    Only the US considers property and money more important than life.

    Probably posted from an iPhone.