"More than two dozen U.S. states and cities asked a federal court Tuesday to let them help defend the Obama administration's carbon emissions reduction plan from legal challenges being brought by other states.

California, New York, Iowa and Virginia were among the 18 states who filed a motion to intervene in lawsuits now pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan. Cities including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia are also participating in the effort to intervene.

'In the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, reckless politicians and polluters want to gut the president's clean air plans,' California Governor Jerry Brown said in a statement."

Ayesha Rascoe reports for Reuters November 4, 2015. [2]