FRANKFORT, KY (Jan. 17, 2025) – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced his latest challenge to the Biden Administration’s assault on Kentucky’s energy producers. General Coleman joined a 23-state lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule implementing a tax on oil and gas producers in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
With their White House days limited, the Biden Administration recently adopted an unlawful rule implementing a tax under the Clean Air Act.
The tax rule is part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to drive up the costs of America’s oil and gas producers in an attempt to advance a radical green agenda. The states’ lawsuit will argue that the rule is premature, arbitrary, and exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority.
Kentucky is home to roughly 30,000 oil and natural gas wells. Many are relatively small – called marginal wells – and these job creators will have to spend their limited funds to show they are complying with the rule.
“The American people flat out rejected President Biden’s relentless assault on American energy. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration failed to receive that message. This rule will cost hard working Kentuckians their jobs and send utility prices through the roof for everyday Kentuckians," said Attorney General Coleman.
Last March, General Coleman joined 22 other states in a comment letter to the EPA opposing the rule and describing its potential harm for Kentuckians. Read the letter here.
General Coleman’s legal challenge is led by Texas and North Dakota and is joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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