Attorney General JB McCuskey announced today he is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a devastating inflationary Biden-era EPA air quality regulation that has raised costs for West Viriginia manufacturers, utilities and farmers. Leading a 25-state coalition with Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, General McCuskey argues the overly stringent standards wouldn’t improve public health but will raise costs and could effectively block new economic activity or job creation in large parts of the country.
In 2024, then-President Biden’s EPA implemented an unprecedented limit on tiny particles in the air, in an attempt to solve an air quality problem that doesn’t exist. After President Trump was elected in 2024, the EPA changed its position on the rule and now half of the AGs from across the country are seeking to repeal the regulation.
The Biden-era EPA rule could:
- Block the permitting of new manufacturing facilities and drive good-paying jobs out of West Virginia, forcing them overseas
- Stop new infrastructure construction
- Require small businesses, farmers, restaurants and even homeowners to pay for costly new equipment
“This regulation threatens the jobs and affordable energy our state depends on. Alongside AG Coleman, I’m proud to lead the coalition asking the Supreme Court to put a stop to it. West Virginia knows firsthand what it costs families and businesses when Washington imposes rules disconnected from common sense. Reversing this regulation is a step in the right direction,” Attorney General McCuskey said.
“Together with attorneys general across the country, we’re asking the Supreme Court to turn the page of President Biden’s assault on common sense. This nonsensical regulation was about politics, not public health.,” Attorney General Coleman said. “We’re asking the U.S. Supreme Court to end the administrative overreach stymying Kentucky’s economic potential.”
According to a letter led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and 28 other leading industry associations, “lowering the current standard so dramatically would create a perverse disincentive for American investment. The EPA’s proposal could force investment in new facilities to foreign countries with less stringent air standards.”
Even before these heavy-handed new rules, the United States has some of the strictest air quality standards in the world – tougher than the European Union and far more stringent than the world’s worst polluters, including China, India and Indonesia.
Kentucky and West Virginia are joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Read the full petition here.