An Ace Up Their Sleeve or a House of Cards: Can the EPA\u27s Affordable Clean Energy Rule Withstand Chevron Deference?

Abstract

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit) is poised to become a prime battleground in a fight over the scope of the Environmental Protection Agency \u27s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from the power sector under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The dispute stems from the EPA\u27s recent efforts to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE Rule). This move was quickly challenged by a coalition of twenty-nine cities and states as well as several prominent American health associations. The two rules reflect very different views in regards to the role the federal government should play in combatting climate change, yet the core legal questions they pose are quite similar