By Susan Duclos
The other two have their own posts, here, here and a followup piece here.
Short recap: First link is where a federal appeals court panel of three ruled that Obama's recess appointments made when the Senate was not in recess last year, were unconstitutional and invalid.
The second was where a federal judge ruled against the Obama administration's arguments and said that 10 ICE agents
and officers have standing to challenge in Federal court the so-called
Morton Memo on prosecutorial discretion and the DREAM directive on
deferred action.
Now, via Bloomberg, we see another ruling against Obama's "EPA Cellulosic Biofuel Regulation Rejected by Court."
An Environmental Protection Agency rule mandating refiners generate or purchase advanced biofuels was overturned by a federal appeals court in Washington, after producers failed to make any commercial supplies last year.
The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas trade association, last year asked the court to overturn the EPA standard setting mandates in 2012 for production and sale of the cellulosic fuels, which can be made from materials including wood chips, switchgrass or agricultural waste.
The three-judge panel today rejected that target and sent it back to the EPA to come up with a new mandate. While the EPA set a standard for refiners of 8.65 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol in 2012, the actual U.S. production was 20,000 gallons -- and those were exported to Brazil.
“Apart from their role as captive consumers, the refiners are in no position to ensure, or even contribute to, growth in the cellulosic biofuel industry,” the court said in a 14-page ruling. According to the court, the EPA rule tells producers, “Do a good job, cellulosic fuel producers. If you fail, we’ll fine your customers.”
A very bad week for the Obama administration in Federal Courts around the country.