Sends letter to President Obama announcing opposition to Clean Power Plan

 

Indianapolis – Governor Pence sent a letter today to President Obama informing him that unless the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan is demonstrably and significantly improved before being finalized Indiana will not comply. The Governor’s letter in full can be found attached.

“As I wrote to Administrator McCarthy on December 1, 2014, the proposed rules are ‘ill-conceived and poorly constructed’ and they exceed the EPA’s legal authority under the Clean Air Act,” wrote Pence. “If your administration proceeds to finalize the Clean Power Plan, and the final rule has not demonstrably and significantly improved from the proposed rule, Indiana will not comply. Our state will also reserve the right to use any legal means available to block the rule from being implemented.”

“Our nation needs an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy that relies on a variety of different energy sources,” said Pence. “Energy policy should promote the safe, environmentally responsible stewardship of our natural resources with the goal of reliable, affordable energy. Your approach to energy policy places environmental concerns above all others.”

In addition Pence noted, “Higher electricity prices brought by the EPA’s plan will inhibit our ability to advance our manufacturing base and the jobs it creates.”

The EPA’s Clean Power Plan calls for a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels in Indiana by the year 2030. The proposed rules do not dictate how states achieve reduction.  Instead, the rule suggests four building blocks as guidelines for compliance. The rules will increase the cost of electricity and force the premature closure of coal-fired power plants, leading to concerns of electricity shortages. On December 1, 2014, Governor Pence and Indiana State agencies submitted letters to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy detailing the proposed rules’ impact on Indiana and urging their immediate withdrawal.

More than 26,000 Hoosiers are employed in the coal industry in Indiana. Governor Pence has pledged to fight the EPA’s regulations with all legal means at Indiana’s disposal.  Governor Pence’s comments today come on the heels of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissing State of West Virginia et al v. Environmental Protection Agency, Case No. 14-1112. Indiana was one of fourteen petitioners in the case, which asked the Court to review the legality of the EPA’s proposed regulations limiting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. The Court of Appeals’ decision was based on procedural, not substantive, issues and does not preclude future litigation challenging the regulation.  Indiana intends to renew its challenge in the courts following the release of the final rule.

The EPA is expected to release the final rule in August.

Jennifer Nelson for www.theindianalawyer.com

A northern Indiana attorney who stole trust account funds belonging to his former law partner and that partner’s clients, and embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from a receivership, has been disbarred by the Indiana Supreme Court.

Robert E. Stochel faced three disciplinary counts. Count I deals with his time as receiver in a dispute involving joint owners of a supermarket. The receivership assets totaled about $330,000 in a bank account, which Stochel depleted. He lied and covered up his theft. Count II stems with his theft of money from his former law partner, Thomas Hoffman. The two shared a trust account from which Stochel withdrew $30,000; only $5,600 belonged to Stochel.

Stochel has not returned funds to his ex-partner and still owes at least $230,000 to the receivership. h

The third count is based on Stochel’s noncooperation with the disciplinary investigation.

The justices found 9 aggravating facts and no mitigating facts. They found he violated Indiana Professional Conduct Rules: 1.5(a): making an agreement for, charging or collecting an unreasonable fee; 1.15(a): failure to hold property of clients properly in trust; failure to safeguard property of clients; treating client funds as his own; failure to maintain and preserve complete records of client trust account funds; 1.15(d): failure to deliver promptly to clients and third parties funds they are entitled to receive and failure to render promptly a full accounting of those funds; 1.16(d): failure to refund an unearned fee promptly upon termination of representation; 3.3(a)(1): knowingly making false statements of fact or law to a tribunal or failing to correct false statements of material fact or law previously made to the tribunal by the lawyer; 3.4(c): knowingly disobeying court orders; 4.1(a): knowingly making a false statement of material fact to a third person in the course of representing a client;  8.1(b): knowingly failing to respond to a lawful demand for information from a disciplinary authority; 8.4(b): committing criminal acts (conversion, theft, deception, and criminal mischief) that reflect adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer; and 8.4(c): engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.

“Respondent stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the receivership and tens of thousands of dollars from his former law partner and that partner’s clients. In the receivership case, Respondent covered up his theft for nearly a decade, lied to all comers, deceived the court and later defied its orders, and actively obstructed the disciplinary process. Respondent throughout has expressed absolutely no remorse or intent to make restitution. In addition, he has neither challenged the hearing officer’s report nor argued any mitigating facts. Under these circumstances, the Court unhesitatingly concludes that disbarment is warranted,” the per curiam opinion states.