U.S. Supreme Court puts hold on plan to reduce carbon emissions in North Carolina
WASHINGTON (WTVD) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has put a hold on a White House plan to reduce carbon emissions in North Carolina.
Tuesday, a divided Supreme Court put aside President Barack Obama's signature plan to address climate change until after legal challenges are resolved.
Governor Pat McCrory led the charge against the federal power plan, arguing that it would dramatically increase North Carolina's electricity rates with little, if any, environmental benefit.
North Carolina was one of 27 states and industry opponents - who called the regulations "an unprecedented power grab" - that petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to suspend the federal government's ability to impose the plan.
By issuing the temporary freeze, a 5-4 majority of the justices signaled that opponents made strong arguments against the rules. The high court's four liberal justices said they would have denied the request for delay.
The Obama administration is vowing to press ahead with efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.
"Governor McCrory is simply hoping that partisan political attacks can distract from his disastrous record of increasing utility rates on North Carolina families," North Carolina Democratic Party Spokesman Ford Porter said in a statement to ABC11 following the news. "Governor McCrory has consistently allowed giant utilities to raise rates for middle class families - even letting them pass on the cleanup costs of the disastrous coal ash spill. This is just another case of Pat McCrory trying to blame someone else for his own failures."
