He also called for a transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources, saying we are already feeling the effects of climate change from carbon dioxide emissions.
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Yesterday President Obama took his biggest step yet in combating climate change.
The new clean energy plan aims to cut carbon emissions from power plants in the US by a third by 2030.
On the downside, according to Larry Wolk, chief of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, “We didn’t get as much credit as we were hoping for” in terms of the clean-energy efforts this state made before 2012. The investment will be rolled into electricity rates.
Figure 1 shows the 32 percent emissions reductions compared to the proposed rule issued by EPA 14 months ago. The plan specifies that energy efficiency is a key compliance mechanism that provides states with flexibility to design carbon reduction plans. They argue that the administration is imposing strict emission regulations that will raise the cost of energy for consumers for the sake of an worldwide agreement that other countries may or may not live up to.
The government’s new proposal will require power plants to cut emissions and shift to more renewable energy sources. States could join interstate greenhouse-gas trading blocs or they could allow companies within their borders to participate in interstate trading without such a formal move. We also are spending $2 billion at our five remaining coal plants to ensure ongoing clean air improvements.
Obama is enacting the plan by executive order, bypassing Congress, which rejected legislative attempts to reduce pollution from carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas blamed by scientists for heating the earth. That’s the state’s lone coal-fired plant.
“The EPA’s Clean Power Plan is the wrong direction”, Rutledge said in a news release. Some states have been considering banding together to challenge the regulations in court.
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The final rule establishes guidelines for states to follow in developing and implementing their plans, including requirements that vulnerable communities have a seat at the table with other stakeholders. Indiana is one of 16 states to face even more stringent targets in the final version than in the preliminary plan and Pence continued his criticism.
