U.S. runs into legal troubles trying to push climate deal

World Today

An American nuclear power plant

While the Paris environmental talks marked a turning point for clean energy, the U.S. is running into legal troubles to meet its obligations.

CCTV’s Sean Calleb filed this report.

The Obama administration has proposed dramatically steering away from the use of coal to combat climate change. Any new coal burning utility plants will have to operate without spewing pollutants into the air.

But critics contend that Obama’s plan is too costly and eliminates jobs.

“In my home state of Louisiana along, we would suffer more than 16 thousand jobs lost,” Republican opposition Congressman Steve Scalise said.

Now, legal challenges to the measure proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency are mounting.

Adherence to the highly praised Paris Agreement – and President Obama’s pledge to reduce carbon pollution from power plants by a third, could be in jeopardy.

The legal filings, chiefly from Republican states and utility giants, contend the president and the EPA have overstepped their authority.

Eventually the case is expected to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.