The US EPA’s Clean Power Plan is “unworkable” for Wisconsin and needs major changes before the state can responsibly develop a strategy to comply with it, Governor Scott Walker wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama.

Republican Walker, who is widely expected to join the 2016 presidential race, has already signed his state up to a lawsuit to fight the plan together with more than a dozen others.

“Absent significant and meaningful changes in the final rule, it is difficult to envision how Wisconsin can responsibly construct a state plan that can comply with the requirements of the Clean Power Plan without ignoring our responsibility to ensure safe, affordable and reliable electricity for the people of Wisconsin,” Walker wrote in the letter, dated May 21.

He said the CPP is “riddled with inaccuracies, questionable assumptions and deficiencies” and that it penalises Wisconsin for emission reductions the state has already made.

The letter referred to an estimate by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin that it would cost the state $3.3-$13.4 billion to comply with the CPP, which would be “nearly fatal for our energy-intensive manufacturers already operating on tight margins”.

Under the Clean Power Plan, Wisconsin must reduce CO2 emissions from power plants to 34.2% below 2005 levels by 2030.

The state emitted 96 million tonnes of CO2 overall in 2011, according to government data.

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