Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., released the following statement regarding the ruling today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the EPA’s cross-state air pollution rule exceeded the agency’s statutory authority:

“This is not the first time the EPA and the Administration has been reprimanded by a panel of Judges for overstepping its regulatory authority, yet it continues to charge ahead with a war on American energy.  The EPA cannot continue to disregard its legal authority in a way that’s destroying thousands of jobs and increasing electricity bills across the board.  There has to be a middle ground that allows us to use West Virginia energy and allows miners to put food on their tables, while also protecting the environment.”  

Just a few months ago the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the EPA’s veto of the Spruce Mine’s Clean Water Act permit, calling EPA’s action ‘unprecedented’ and ‘arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with law...’  In July, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in National Mining Association v. Lisa Jackson ruled that the EPA acted unlawfully in issuing guidance that restricted the issuance of permits necessary for coal mining in Appalachia.

Capito is co-founder of the Congressional Coal Caucus.