Oral argument set in PLF's challenge to two EPA greenhouse gas emissions standards

January 05, 2015 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

I’ll be arguing in the D.C. Circuit this Friday, January 9, 2015, that EPA’s greenhouse gas standards for new cars and trucks should be reversed because EPA failed to comply with a nondiscretionary statutory requirement to submit the rules for peer review to a blue-ribbon panel of experts known as the Science Advisory Board.  EPA acknowledges that the rules will have a substantial effect on the national economy, yet it failed to comply with its mandatory duty to obtain peer review before finalizing them.  Importantly, the rules will substantially increase the upfront costs of new cars and trucks.

PLF represents a variety of companies and individuals who do not have the capital or credit to invest in the new cars and trucks mandated by the rules.   Declarations filed with the Court state that, as a result of the rules, our clients may go out of business or reduce their fleets and, in either case, the rules will generate layoffs of employees.  Especially under these circumstances, EPA should not be allowed to ignore with impunity a statutory mandate.  It should comply with the law, just like the rest of us.

The oral argument will begin at 9:30 a.m.