Oklahoma AG Praises Supreme Court's Limiting EPA Rules

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is praising a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits the Environmental Protection Agency's program to deal with power plant and factory emissions of gases blamed for global warming.

The justices said Monday that the EPA lacks authority in some cases to force companies to evaluate ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This rule applies when a company needs a permit to expand facilities or build new ones that would increase overall pollution. Carbon dioxide is the chief gas linked to global warming.

Oklahoma is among the states that challenged the rule that Pruitt says was an "overreach" of EPA's authority.

7/16/2013 Related Story: Oklahoma AG Leads Multi-State Lawsuit Against EPA

"Today's ruling by the Supreme Court is a major victory for Oklahoma and other states that challenged EPA overreach," Attorney General Scott Pruitt said.

"While the EPA serves an important role in protecting our environment, the agency continues its aggressive drive to expand its authority over the lives of Americans. In its ruling, the Supreme Court noted that even the EPA recognized these regulations would be an ‘unprecedented expansion of EPA authority that would have a profound effect on virtually every sector of the economy and touch every household in the land' while still only proving to be ‘relatively ineffective at reducing greenhouse gas concentrations.' In this case, the EPA clearly overstepped its authority under the Clean Air Act as part of the administration's anti-fossil fuel agenda. In siding with Oklahoma, the Supreme Court has placed an important check on the EPA and preserved state authority under the Clean Air Act."

The decision does not affect EPA proposals for first-time national standards for new and existing power plants.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.