EPA’s Clean Power Plan is Here and That is Good for Everyone, Yes, Everyone
By John Noël, National Oil & Gas Campaigns Coordinator, @noel_johnny
This month the Obama Administration finalized EPA’s long awaited Clean Power Plan. The groundbreaking rule aims to reduce carbon pollution from existing coal plants by 32% over the next 15 years. The Plan provides flexibility for each State to meet its emission reduction targets and is packaged as a three-pronged opportunity. An opportunity for States to meet their emissions reduction targets by investing heavily in renewable energy and kick starting the local clean energy economy which goes hand in hand with a sustainable energy future. States have an opportunity to reduce consumer electricity bills with new efficiency measures. Lastly, the Plan is an opportunity for States to reduce public health hazards of power plant pollution, which contributes to asthma, heart attacks and premature deaths.
In addition to the public health impacts, Clean Water Action recognizes that climate change is water change. The Plan will go a long way to reducing the pollutants which directly influence our climate system and disrupt the supply and predictability of water resources across the globe.
EPA’s Plan is a path forward but our political environment remains divided. Unfortunately, some members of Congress are dedicated to protecting the polluting status quo and leading us nowhere but into a future with a destabilized climate. Those who deny the importance or even reality of climate change should fade into irrelevance. We know that 14 of the 15 hottest years on record have occurred this century. As a result, right now we are experiencing the impacts of devastating western wildfires, prolonged drought, and a future with shifting precipitation patterns leading to increased flooding, severe storms and food shortages. Thankfully, the Obama Administration listened to the majority of Americans who support the carbon rules and believe that addressing climate changes is a critical issue.
The bold approach to reducing carbon pollution is a much needed step in addressing all emissions from power plants. However, due to the ability for some plants to meet their emission reductions by switching from coal to natural gas, EPA’s forthcoming rules on methane emissions remain just as critical. We are keenly aware that a massive switch to natural gas is not a solution and could indeed only take us backwards.
As we wait for the dust to settle around the Plan, the Administration and EPA deserve considerable praise for tackling the defining issue of our time with courage and poise in a political environment that is sometimes just the opposite. In contrast to the well funded misinformation campaigns of the past designed to delay action on climate — this Plan may be America’s moment for climate change and it appears we might finally have the broad understanding that the stakes couldn’t be any higher.
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