In light of the Supreme Court rejecting a request to suspend the carbon standards for new gas plants and existing coal-fired facilities, Bracewell’s Jeff Holmstead told E&E News that state agencies are likely to have begun discussing their compliance plans since states and utilities will not get a reprieve from the rule’s deadlines.
Holmstead surmised that a victory for former President Donald Trump in the upcoming November elections would signal to states that the rule would not survive, and potentially green light the construction of new gas plants in locations that are not suitable for carbon capture technologies. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins, he added, state agencies might ramp up planning to avoid a federal plan being imposed on them, with the potential of utilities putting plans for new gas plants on hold until the courts weigh in.
“I think all states are going to have to take the requirements seriously until the Trump administration or the courts say otherwise,” Holmstead said.
