Rutledge Statement Following Oral Arguments Challenging EPA’s Power Plan
LITTLE ROCK – (RealEstateRama) — Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge released a statement today after the conclusion of oral arguments in West Virginia v. EPA, the court challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.
“The so-called Clean Power Plan will skyrocket electric rates for Arkansans,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “With the slow economic growth, no Arkansas family or business owner, especially those on fixed incomes, can afford these higher costs. This plan is illegal and thankfully the U.S. Supreme Court has put in place an unprecedented stay, preventing its implementation. I am pleased the D.C. Circuit has finally heard oral arguments in this case, and I am hopeful the court will recognize that the EPA overstepped and the plan should not be allowed to go forward.”
Arkansas is part of a bipartisan coalition of 29 states and state agencies that are challenging the Clean Power Plan in the D.C. Circuit. In February, following a request from the coalition, the U.S. Supreme Court placed an injunction on the plan until its full legality can be determined.
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. She is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected to the office. Since taking office, she has begun a Mobile Office program, a Military and Veterans Initiative, a Metal Theft Prevention program and a Cooperative Disability Investigations program. She has led efforts to teach Internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge also re-established and co-chairs the National Association of Attorneys General Committee on Agriculture.
A native of Batesville, she is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge clerked for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was Deputy Counsel for Gov. Mike Huckabee, served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and subsequently was an Attorney at the Department of Human Services before serving as Counsel at the Republican National Committee. Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County.
