Attorney General Eric Schmitt intends to appeal a federal judge’s decision that supports the U.S. government’s estimation of carbon costs, according to Schmitt’s spokesperson Chris Nuelle.
“It’s about a massive expansion of federal government overreach with the social costs of greenhouse gas interim values, which could have a wide-ranging impact on manufacturing, farming, and other related industries in Missouri,” Nuelle told the St. Louis Record. “Using the interim values to justify this intrusion and massive federal government overreach could crush small farmers and stifle Missouri industry.”
Schmitt lead 12 other states in filing the lawsuit on March 8 in the Eastern District of Missouri federal court alleging violation of the separation of powers, violation of agency statutes, procedural violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and substantive violation of the APA.
“Our records speak for itself,” Nuelle said. “We're going to keep fighting in the court system to ensure that the Biden administration doesn't go unchecked and doesn’t continue to impose these massive regulations on hardworking people in Missouri, the farmers who have tended to the land for generations, and important manufacturing jobs.”
Schmitt’s lawsuit alleged that President Joe Biden lacked the authority to raise the dollar value assigned to the damage caused by one metric ton of greenhouse gas emissions, according to media reports. But Eastern District of Missouri Judge Audrey Fleissig dismissed the complaint as moot.
“Upon review of the entire record and for the reasons set forth below, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs lack standing and that their claims are not ripe for adjudication,” Judge Fleissig, appointed by President Obama, wrote in her Aug. 31 decision. “Therefore, the Court will grant Defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and will dismiss Plaintiffs’ motion as moot.”
The federal complaint cited President Biden’s Jan. 20 order called Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis, in which a working group was directed to draw up an interim social cost of carbon within 30 days and a final metric by January 2022.
EE News reported that the working group recommended increasing the interim figure from $1 per ton that was established during President Trump’s presidency to $51 per ton.
“The negative impacts are hard to realize at this point but it could really, really do a lot of harm to some of Missouri's major industries,” Nuelle said.
Fleissig further stated in her opinion that in dismissing Schmitt's complaint, she is "properly responding to the separation-of-powers concerns raised by Plaintiffs by respecting the limits of judicial power."
"There is “considerable legal distance” between the adoption of the Interim Estimates and the moment—if one occurs—when a harmful regulation is issued," Fleissig wrote. "Withholding the Court’s consideration at present will not cause Plaintiffs significant hardship. The time or expense of having to pursue numerous challenges to each allegedly harmful regulation, rather than cutting the regulatory process off prematurely, is not the type of harm sufficient to justify immediate review."