Obama Administration to Propose 30% Cuts to Power Plant Carbon Emissions

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Smoke rises from the Colstrip Steam Electric Station, a coal-burning power plant in Colstrip, Montana.

Image: Matthew Brown/Associated Press

By Andrew Freedman2014-06-01 23:37:00 -0400

The Obama administration plans to announce new draft greenhouse gas emissions rules on Monday that would amount to the biggest step to date toward addressing U.S. contributions to manmade global warming, and the most significant new domestic clean air policy since at least 1990.

The proposed rule, to be laid out by the E.P.A. administrator at a news event on Monday morning, would seek to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants by 30% compared to 2005 levels by the year 2030, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times .

See also: In Speech and EPA Rules, Obama Aims For U.S. Leadership on Global Warming

The proposed regulations are based on the White House's executive authority under the Clean Air Act, as carved out in a landmark 2007 Supreme Court decision. This policy route circumvents Congress, where most House Republicans are skeptical of the mainstream science on global warming, and where a comprehensive climate change bill failed in 2009.

The rules will only apply to existing power plants, and will mainly affect about 600 coal-fired generating facilities. Coal-fired power plants comprise 37% of all electric power generation capacity in the U.S., just behind natural gas. But they also account for the vast majority of the electricity-sector's greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Energy Information Administration.

If the reported choice of 2005 as the base year for the new rules proves true, it would represent a defeat of sorts for environmentalists who had been seeking a more recent date. This is because U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell nearly 10% from 2005 to 2012, making it somewhat easier for industry to achieve the goals, and making them slightly less ambitious than if the base year had been set to a later date.

The U.S. has already committed to a goal of reducing nationwide greenhouse gas emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, and the new regulations are viewed as a key component of the administration's plan to meet that commitment.

Under the proposed rule, each state would have a different emissions target for its electricity sector to reach, and would have wide latitude to determine how to meet it. For example, states could comply with the rules by joining a regional cap-and-trade program or investing more in renewable energy. Two regional cap-and-trade programs already exist in the U.S., one in the Northeast and another in California.

Under cap-and-trade systems, industries would be required to buy permits or “allowances” to emit particular amounts of carbon dioxide, which is the main long-lived gas responsible for global warming. Over time, the amount of issued allowances is reduced, and their cost increases, thereby reducing overall amounts of emissions.

Such systems provide incentives for companies to determine how to reduce emissions at the lowest cost. This approach was successfully used by President George H.W. Bush to curb the problem of acid rain, which was caused by another type of emissions from power plants.

Assuming they survive anticipated court challenges without significant changes, the proposed rules would represent the strongest action ever taken to combat global warming by any U.S. president. It would also help President Obama attain his goal, as expressed in a recent speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, to lead global efforts to establish a new climate framework agreement at negotiations in Paris next year.

While the Obama administration has already taken steps to reduce U.S. emissions, including setting strict fuel economy standards for new cars and trucks and emissions standards for new power plants, this new set of regulations are viewed as the cornerstone of his climate agenda.

As such, they are likely to be a political lightning rod during the upcoming midterm elections, with Republicans and even some Democrats accusing the White House of unfairly targeting the coal industry.

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Topics: carbon emissions, Climate, CO2, epa, Politics, power plants, U.S., US & World