Meanwhile, about 20 to 30 US states were poised to join the energy industry in suing over the new plan and a number of US lawmakers from states which up till now had relied heavily on coal-fired power plant had vowed to sabotage the new plan through Congressional maneuvers. This includes, but is not limited to, demand-side energy efficiency, renewable energy, and emissions credit trading.
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But burning it to make steam to turn generators also produces carbon dioxide-a major greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, melting polar ice and glaciers as the Earth’s climate warms. Power plants are the largest drivers of climate change in the United States, accounting for roughly one-third of all carbon pollution emissions, but there were no national limits on carbon pollution until today. “We’re the last generation that can do something about it”. There’s no plan B.
The Clean Power Plan is intended to be a key part of the president’s legacy on global warming, which he pledged to fight as a candidate for the in 2008.
The timing of the President’s announcement is also important.
“While we appreciate the efforts intended to help offset the financial burden of rising electricity prices and jobs lost due to prematurely shuttered power plants, the final rule still appears to reflect the fundamental flaws of the original proposal”, Emerson said.
“That’s why I wrote the governors earlier this year suggesting they take a responsible “wait-and-see” approach and allow the courts to weigh in before subjecting their citizens to such unnecessary pain”, McConnell said.
The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, called the plan an “energy tax” that the administration wanted to issue during a slow recovery from recession.
Obama rejected criticism that his plan would increase energy bills for Americans and hurt the poor, saying, “If you care about low-income, minority communities, start protecting the air that they breathe”. “If it is going to look at renewable energy and not use standard fuel like coal or natural gas, it will affect climate change in a positive way, and we as a health department are in line with that”.
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There are two main reasons, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Janet McCabe: Renewable sources such as wind and solar are getting cheaper and easier to build, and the EPA considered that states in some cases could easily source clean power from neighbors if they didn’t have the capacity to generate it themselves.
