While Democratic states have taken the lead on the most aggressive climate policy in recent years, some Republican-led states are also helping shift the U.S. power grid toward cleaner sources of energy.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The U.S. Supreme Court limited the power of the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. But it's ruling didn't touch the power of the states.
States can cut emissions from power plants in a handful of direct and indirect ways. Chief among them are carbon markets that aim to lower emissions from large, polluting facilities over time and rules that require utilities to buy certain amounts of energy from renewable or non-carbon sources. So-called renewable portfolio standards don't directly regulate emissions. But they have a similar effect by encouraging utilities not to purchase power from carbon-emitting sources like coal-fired plants. They also encourage a ramp-up of solar, wind and other types of renewable power so that utilities will have enough places to buy energy as the rules tighten.More than a dozen U.S.
“If the EPA doesn’t have this authority, then that certainly doesn’t preempt states from going ahead,” said Cary Coglianese, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania focused on regulation. West Virginia, a heavy coal-producing state, brought the challenge against the EPA. In 2020, the state got 88% of its electricity from coal, with renewables like hydropower and wind accounting for just 6%. The Legislature in 2015 repealed a state law that required a certain amount of power to come from renewable or alternative sources.
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