The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued a proposal today endorsed by US President Barack Obama that would cut greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants in the US by an average of 30% from 2005 levels. Bloomberg said that the proposal would be his administration's and the country's biggest single step to fight global warming. The Obama administration said that the proposal would help boost the economy and cut health problems associated with air pollution.
At a ceremony in Washington this morning, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is expected to say in her prepared remarks that was released in advance, "We can raise the common denominator for a cleaner, low-carbon economy that'll fuel growth for decades to come. There are still special interest skeptics who cry the sky is falling. They deliberately ignore the risks, overestimate the costs and undervalue the benefits."
Bloomberg explained that the EPA is to set standards per state that are based on the carbon emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants in 2005. State officials then will have to come up with their own measures to comply with the EPA standards. It has been reported that the preferred reduction is equal to less than a 20% cut from current levels as power plant emissions from 2005 to last year had fallen to around 15%.
In a statement today, the top climate official Christiana Figueres for the United Nations lauded Obama's efforts to address global warming and said, "The decision by President Obama to launch plans to more tightly regulate emissions from power plants will send a good signal to nations everywhere that one of the world's biggest emitters is taking the future of the planet and its people seriously."
The news agency said that Obama's proposal naturally drew a sharp reaction from the GOP, prompting immediate pledges from the Republicans to attempt blocking the rule. According to the GOP pledgers, the rule would cost jobs and will send utility prices up.
Kentucky Republican and Representative Ed Whitfield, who currently chairs a House subcommittee on energy and power, said, "It is clear that this administration is pushing regulations that are full of costs and no benefits, ultimately bankrupting the American people. I will continue to fight for Americans to have affordable energy in the current trying economic climate."
