WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments centered on Environmental Protection Agency limits on mercury and other hazardous air pollutants established by President Barack Obama.
In the lead case Michigan v. Environmental Protection Agency, industry groups and Republican-led states are challenging Obama's order to reduce electricity-generating power plant emissions on mercury and other pollutants that can lead to respiratory illnesses, birth defects and developmental problems in children.
The EPA action is against coal and oil-fired power plants that contribute to about half of the country's output of mercury. The new rules on mercury and other pollutants such as chromium, arsenic and nickel, begin in April and take full effect in 2016 -- aiming to reduce toxic emissions by 90 percent. The Supreme Court will issue a ruling, expected in June.
Justices will decide whether health risks are the only consideration for regulating hazardous pollutants or if costs are also a factor. The EPA factored in costs at later stages of writing the regulations.
Nearly 60 percent of power plants that generate electricity by burning coal are more than 40 years old and the EPA believes those older facilities create much of the air pollution that's detrimental to the nation's health and environment.
One of the strongest allies of the coal industry is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who regularly criticizes the EPA and the Obama administration -- declaring they've waged a "war on coal." He recently penned letters to state governors asking them not to cooperate with EPA rules.
