A federal appeals panel has rejected an effort by 27 states and coal companies to block President Obama’s new EPA regulations on emissions from coal-fired power plants while a lawsuit makes its way through the courts. Twenty-seven states have sued the federal government over the plan, which requires states to cut greenhouse gas pollution from the plants. On Thursday, the appeals panel ruled states must begin to implement the regulations, at least until the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit hears the case in June.