Governor Mark Gordon has responded to an announcement of a rule package by the Environmental Protection Agency that would have devastating impacts to Wyoming’s legacy energy industries, specifically coal and natural gas-fired power plants. Under the EPA rules, Wyoming coal fired units are given three choices: 1) shut down by January 2032; 2) convert to natural gas co-firing by 2030, with a forced shutdown by January 1, 2039; or 3) install C02 capture facilities by 2032. 

The Governor called the effects of the rules “devastating” and vowed to challenge them in court. The Governor’s statement follows:

“It is clear the only goal envisioned by these rules released by the Environmental Protection Agency today is the end of coal communities in Wyoming. EPA has weaponized the fear of climate change into a crushing set of rules that will result in an unreliable electric grid, unaffordable electricity, and thousands of lost jobs. This Administration has turned its back on the very industries and states that have made our country strong. 

Coal-fired power plants produce approximately 20% of the nation’s electricity, but under these rules, are shouldering 100% of the burden. Clearly, managing CO2 emissions is not the real target – it is Wyoming’s fossil fuel industries. 

It is far beyond disappointing; these rules are a travesty, and their effects are devastating. I acknowledge that EPA has provided two more years to install carbon capture on some coal-fired units than originally proposed. Though I have always maintained that Wyoming utilities and power plants are working as fast as they can to deploy multiple technologies for CO2 capture, nonetheless rules like these stymie progress.

This rule is environmental extortion and pits fossil fuels against each other rather than recognizing America needs all the energy we can produce. That is the only way to provide reliable 24-hour power to millions of customers both in and outside Wyoming.  If the Federal government is going to provide tax incentives and emission-reduction policies, it should allow  all types of energy to compete on a level playing field and recognize the life-cycle emissions cost equally.

These rules will not only significantly increase the cost of dispatchable electricity, they seriously threaten the reliability of the electric grid and endanger the domestic economy and security. If the Federal government is going to provide tax incentives, it should do so on a life-cycle emissions basis, where coal, gas, wind, solar are all given equal policy and tax treatment. 

I have directed the Wyoming Attorney General to engage with and lead a coalition of states to challenge the power plant emissions rule and  we are prepared to apply our litigation strategy to the oncoming wave of federal regulatory actions that threaten Wyoming. 

In addition to the CO2 ban, the other rules announced today are just shoveling more dirt on the coal communities casket. Existing regulations for power plant discharges have proved effective in protecting the quality of Wyoming’s waters; yet EPA has instead chosen to impose new regulations that unnecessarily place further burdens on our power plants. All emissions related to coal-fired power plants have significantly decreased over the last generation. This is truly a bludgeon when a fly-swatter would have worked.”