If the Obama administration’s proposed Clean Power Plan is a war on coal – as EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy suggested on a late-night talk show – then battle lines have been drawn.
"McCarthy: New EPA Guidelines to Cut Carbon Pollution Is ‘War on Coal"
Earlier this month, 12 coal-producing states filed a lawsuit against EPA in an effort to put the brakes on the plan, on the heels of a lawsuit that Murray Energy Corp. filed several weeks ago.
While the Obama administration hails its Clean Power Plan as “a commonsense plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants,” opponents view the plan as a job killer that will drive electricity costs higher.
“The two lawsuits are the first salvos in what is likely to be a protracted legal battle as the coal industry and its political allies seek weak spots in the EPA's interpretation of an untested section of the Clean Air Act, on which the proposed rule change is based,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
This gallery looks at the Clean Power Plan from the front lines of the battle that got underway on June 2, when the Obama administration unveiled the plan.