The company issued a strongly worded statement slamming the ruling, claiming it would destroy the country’s economy and have little to no effect on the betterment of the environment.
"After analysing EPA's 645-page proposal and supporting technical documents, it is increasingly evident that the administration's plan for regulating greenhouse gases would place the US economy at serious risk," Arch Coal strategy and public policy senior vice-president Deck S Slone said.
“Most surprising is the fact that the administration would be willing to pursue such costly regulations without the potential for any discernible impact on greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.”
Arch used the past winter as the base of its argument, claiming the grid was hardly able to cope with the spike in energy usage while prices soared – a problem Arch said would only be worsened by the shuttering of more power stations.
The company expressed some relief at the fact the states had been granted autonomy when meeting its emission standards.
Slone said the company would back state legislatures in their opposition of the EPA ruling and claimed the proposal was costly and went “far beyond what the law allowed”
“We strongly encourage the administration to reconsider its regulatory approach and to focus instead on robust investment in advanced technologies, including carbon capture, utilisation and storage,” he said.
“That is the rational way forward for addressing climate concerns."
