LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Supreme Court’s stay of EPA plan means stop

The cost of the global warming hoax is about to go up for Delawareans. Gov. Jack Markell said he was “disappointed in the Supreme Court’s action on Feb. 9 to stay the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, but he is optimistic that the plan will be upheld when the lower courts review the merits of the case,” and that his administration remains “determined to move forward in responding to the issue of climate change.” Perhaps Markell has forgotten that challengers seeking stays must overcome fearsome legal criteria, and that Supreme Court stays are rarely granted, signaling that the regulations might ultimately be overturned. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is leading 29 states in a fight against the regulations, said the decision by the Supreme Court’s five conservative justices was “historic,” freezing Obama’s “illegal Clean Power Plan.” Morrisey said all states are obligated under the court’s decision to stop all activity related to complying with the plan’s goals and deadlines. The stay means in practice that the Clean Power Plan is stopped cold through Mr. Obama’s presidency, and states can safely ignore the empty EPA threats until the courts rule on the merits, which could take a year or more. All states should wait, given the uncertainty and billions of dollars their taxpayers would have to foot. In addition, Caesar Rodney states that Delaware has already far exceeded the EPA emission goals in 2012 and 2013 alone, without adopting the Clean Power Plan, and Delaware should be exempted from the plan. The Supreme Court stay is legal, but the EPA never had any federal authority to regulate anything. The U.S. Constitution authorizes one body for ALL legislation — that is Congress alone — and that power is not transferable to anyone or any organization. All EPA regulations are unconstitutional unless Congress makes them into law. Incredibly, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control officials are continuing to prepare for the Clean Power Plan’s implementation. DNREC Secretary David Small said while he understands “that the legal issues of the Clean Power Plan need to work themselves out, the agency must continue to develop its compliance plan ... .” This is despite state attorneys general calling on all states to cease all activity on meeting the goals of the Clean Power Plan, until the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the merits, presumably with the Supreme Court as the final word. Why would Markell’s DNREC want to spend your money regardless? The EPA and DNREC hope to engineer a fait accompli by rushing the states into making permanent revisions immediately. Once the Clean Power Plan starts, it becomes self-executing. If the EPA loses down the road, the opinion will come too late and the costly changes will be too expensive to reverse. Proponents of the Clean Power Plan claim it will help fight global warming and will also produce tangible health benefits for Americans. No specifics or proof of these claims has been forthcoming. Critics say it neither improves health benefits nor fights global warming. Global warming may be real, but there has never been any proof that it is being caused by man, or that it is caused by CO2. However, critics say the plan will drive up power costs. Not only will you pay for implementation, but you will pay higher energy rates forever after. Ignorance is not bliss; it is very expensive!

Lacey Lafferty Republican candidate for Delaware governor Laurel