Koster files suit against EPA

The office of Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced the state has joined 25 others in filing suit against the Environmental Protection Agency over the agency’s new regulations governing carbon emissions.

Missouri’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia, alleges the federal agency exceeded its authority in issuing the new rules and asks the federal court to issue a stay on the regulations until their legality has been determined, according to a news release.

Koster said Missouri’s energy producers estimate a cost to the state of $6 billion in order to reach the EPA’s proposed deadlines, adding the plan removes the state’s competitive advantage of offering low consumer and industrial electrical rates.

In the past decade, Missouri added 2,200 megawatts of capacity from renewable resources, according to Koster.

Koster announced plans to file suit against the EPA earlier this month.

The EPA’s Clean Power Plan would require states to cut carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030.