That’s why the final Clean Power Plan rule is drawing praise from public health groups like the American Lung Association.
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Essentially, this would alleviate the effects that the most manufacturing-economy-dependent states would feel from the proposed rule, since those states would have been disproportionately affected by the emissions targets. “We think that’s entirely consistent and appropriate”.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan uses state-by-state targets to cut emissions 32 percent by 2030 from levels recorded in 2005 – up from 30 percent in the draft version of the rule. So as it takes these steps under existing authority at home, the United States has a responsibility, as the largest contributor to the climate crisis, to help close the emissions gap by supporting additional action overseas.
Also, the “early mover” states that already began carbon reduction initiatives would have been unfairly hit by the initial emission reduction targets. According to the plan, states will be able to propose their own plan to meet the standards by reducing emissions from power plants alone or combining other methods such as increasing renewable energy and improving energy efficiency. Those states have nuclear plants under construction – but not yet operating.
States around the country are finding that these clean energy opportunities have economic benefits, including job creation and lowered energy bills for households and businesses.
Nevada has also seen homeowners install rooftop solar panels at a rapid pace, and several large-scale solar plants that are in the works are helping the cause.
“By filing a series of premature lawsuits raising baseless claims, the coal industry and its allies have shown that they will throw whatever they can at the Clean Power Plan in the desperate hope that something will stick”, said Joanne Spalding, Sierra Club’s Chief Climate Counsel.
A recurring theme of the speakers was climate change’s impact on human health.
The plan, considered to be the keystone of Obama’s agenda on climate change, will certainly face significant resistance by the Republican opposition in Congress, the coal industry and the states that are most dependent on coal as an energy source.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has been urging governors to ignore the EPA rule, though so far only Oklahoma has said it would not comply. The primary source of this base load power is coal-fired electricity that can be concentrated in large amounts at individual sites, which is essential for manufacturing, and requires a well-functioning interconnected electric power grid. One important detail is whether the EPA will do anything to encourage the growth of renewable energy as opposed to natural gas, which is a source for potent methane emissions.
Once Nevada receives its benchmark from the federal government, the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection will spearhead an effort to come up with specific ways to meet the goal. Previously, the EPA had said TVA couldn’t count the new unit since it was started back in the 1970s before the new rules were ever developed.
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Because of these inducements, the percentage of U.S. electricity coming from renewables is expected to rise to 28percent by the year 2030, compared with 22percent under the previous version of the rule, the officials said.
