ATI Environmental Law Center Sues State of Colorado Over Constitutionality of RES Mandate

Today American Tradition Institute's Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Colorado's Renewable Energy Standard, based upon evidence that the state's law violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Commerce Clause reserves the regulation of interstate commerce to the federal government.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, April 4, 2011
Contact: Paul Chesser, Executive Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(202)670-2680

If you cannot read this press release, please click here: http://www.atinstitute.org/blog_post/show/104

Today
American Tradition Institute's Environmental Law Center filed a
lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of
Colorado's Renewable Energy Standard, based upon evidence that the
state's law violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The
Commerce Clause reserves the regulation of interstate commerce to the
federal government.

Specifically ATI's complaint argues that
because the state mandate provides economic benefits to Colorado's
renewable electricity generators that are not available to out-of-state
power generators, and because the state imposes burdens on interstate
electricity generators that are not balanced by the benefits to
Colorado and its citizens, that the RES violates the Commerce Clause.
The complaint also states that the law promotes renewable sources and
discriminates against lower cost, more reliable energy generation from
out of state suppliers, which is unconstitutional.

"Colorado's renewable energy standards impose a burden on the
interstate market for wholesale electricity," said Kent Holsinger of
Holsinger Law, LLC, ATI's Denver-based counsel for the case. "Among
other things, these state mandates discriminate against out-of-state
electrical generation--no matter the source. This runs counter to the
Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution."

The heart of the lawsuit addresses both the uneconomical and
environmentally harmful nature of wind-generated energy. In addition to
higher costs than traditional generating sources, wind energy creates
more pollution because it requires coal or natural gas as backup
generation when the wind either does not blow, or when it blows too hard
and causes systems to shut off.

"Research shows that when wind
energy is on the electrical grid, operators must use more coal and gas
generation to keep the electrical power in balance," said David
Schnare, Esq. Ph.D., director of ATI's Environmental Law Center. "This
forces coal and gas plants to 'cycle' up and down to keep pace with
when wind varies, which is extremely inefficient and dirty. Hard
observations show that this cycling of coal and gas plants causes more
air pollution and greenhouse gases than if wind was not connected to
the grid."

Also, Colorado residents do not realize how badly the
RES statute affects their pocketbooks. William Yeatman, an energy
policy analyst for the Competitiveness Enterprise Institute and ATI's
electricity rate expert, explained, "Unfortunately for Coloradans,
their ratepayer protections are illusionary. The true RES costs are
obfuscated with accounting gimmicks."

The RES case is the ATI
Environmental Law Center's first lawsuit. ATI and the ELC were
established for true environmental protection, while also guarding the
rights of humankind to access and utilize natural resources
responsibly, and recognizing the need to weigh costs and benefits.

"This case against Colorado's RES is part of our effort to restore
sanity to environmental policy in the states," said Paul Chesser, ATI's
executive director. "Combined with our economic analysis, this lawsuit
will highlight one example where we expect to make the appearance of
environmental responsibility match reality."

See ATI's Complaint Asking a Federal Court to Declare Colorado's Renewable Energy Standard Unconstitutional. ( http://www.atinstitute.org/uploads/File/ATI-RPS-Complaint-ATI-v-Colorado.pdf )

Visit the American Tradition Institute Web site ( http://www.atinstitute.org/blog_post/show/103 ) to view all declarations and documents associated with the Environmental Law Center RES case.

See ATI's economic analysis of Colorado's Renewable Energy Standard ( http://www.atinstitute.org/blog_post/show/76 ).

For an interview with ATI Environmental Law Center staff or counsel, contact Paul Chesser at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (202)670-2680.

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