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WASHINGTON, May 11 (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday proposed new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants, the most ambitious effort yet to curb the nation’s second-biggest climate change. Global warming pollution changes caused by contributors.
A rule announced by the Environmental Protection Agency could force power plants to use a long-promised but not widely used technology in the United States to capture smokestack emissions.
“This administration is committed to addressing the urgency of the climate crisis and taking the necessary action needed,” said EPA Administrator Michael Reagan.
The new rules will “significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants, protect health and protect our planet,” Reagan said.
Not only will the plan “improve air quality across the country, but it will deliver enormous health benefits to communities across the country, especially our frontline communities … that have unjustly carried the burden of pollution for decades,” Reagan said in a speech at the University of Maryland.
If finalized, the proposed regulations would mark the first time the federal government has capped carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, which generate about 25 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution, second only to the transportation sector.
The EPA said the rule, which would also apply to future power plants, would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 617 million metric tons by 2042, equivalent to the annual emissions of 137 million passenger cars.
Nearly all coal-fired power plants, as well as large, commonly used gas-fired power plants, must reduce or capture nearly all of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2038, the EPA said. Factories that fail to meet the new standards will be forced to decommission.
The plan is likely to be challenged by industry groups and pro-Republican states. They accused the Democratic administration of going too far with environmental regulations and warned of an impending reliability crisis for the grid.
The power plant rule is one of at least six EPA rules that limit power plant emissions and wastewater disposal.
Rich Nolan, president and chief executive of the National Association of Mines, said “it’s a real shock” that government regulation “is aimed at prematurely shutting down the coal fleet.”
Reagan denied that the power plant rule — or any other regulation — was designed to shut down the coal industry, but conceded, “We’re going to see some coal decommissioning.”
The proposal, he said, “relies on proven, off-the-shelf technologies to limit carbon pollution” and builds on industry practices already underway to switch to clean energy.
Coal provides about 20% of US electricity, down from about 45% in 2010. Natural gas provides about 40 percent of U.S. electricity. The remainder comes from nuclear and renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydro.
Environmental groups have hailed the EPA’s action as urgently needed to prevent the devastating hazards of climate change, from worsening floods, hurricanes and droughts to worsening wildfires.
Environmental Defense Fund chairman Fred Krupp said the proposal “will bring us closer to a clean energy future with healthier air, a safer climate, good jobs and affordable, reliable electricity”.
But Jim Matheson, chief executive of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, said the plan would further strain the U.S. power grid and “undermine decades of work to reliably keep the nation lit.”
Matheson, whose association represents 900 local electric cooperatives across the country, said the EPA’s plan could “force the early retirement of critical, always-on power plants and make it extremely difficult to permit, site and build new natural gas plants.”
Tom Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute, which represents hundreds of investor-owned electric utilities, said the group would assess whether the EPA’s proposals met its commitment to provide reliable, clean energy.
Carbon emissions from the US power sector are at the same level as in 1984, while electricity use has increased 73% since then, Kuhn said.
EPA rules won’t mandate the use of devices to capture and store carbon emissions — an expensive technology still in development. Instead, the agency will set a cap on carbon dioxide pollution that plant operators must meet.
Some gas plants may start blending gas with another carbon-free fuel source, such as hydrogen, but specific actions will be left to the industry.
Still, the regulation is expected to lead to greater use of carbon capture devices, a technology the EPA says has been “well-documented” to control pollution.
Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Alliance, said the proposed rule “promotes the role of carbon capture by naming it one of the technologies available to meet emissions standards.” Stolark said, Even as renewables gain momentum over the next decade, fossil fuels, especially natural gas, “will remain in the domestic energy mix for decades,” with an alliance that includes industry, labor and environmental groups.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 60 percent of U.S. electricity last year came from fossil fuels burned by the nation’s 3,400 coal and gas-fired power plants.
“These rules matter,” said David Doniger, senior director of strategy for climate and clean energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
He and other advocates say power plant rules are critical to meeting President Joe Biden’s goals of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and eliminating carbon emissions from the grid by 2035.
“We need to do this to fight the climate crisis,” Doniger said.
The proposal comes weeks after the administration announced tough new tailpipe pollution limits that would require as many as two-thirds of new cars sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032, a few months after Biden Rules announced to curb methane leaks from oil and gas wells.
The rules follow climate action from the Infrastructure Act of 2021 and billions of dollars in tax credits and other incentives provided by the Lower Inflation Act approved last year.
While Biden has made fighting global warming a top priority, he has faced sharp criticism from environmentalists — especially young climate activists — for his recent decision to approve the controversial Willow oil project in Alaska.
Oil giant ConocoPhillips’ massive drilling program could produce as much as 180,000 barrels per day of oil on Alaska’s oil-rich North Slope. Environmental groups called Willow a “carbon bomb” and launched a social media campaign #StopWillow.
The new plan comes 14 years after the EPA declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a danger to public health.
President Barack Obama sought to limit carbon pollution from U.S. power plants, but his 2015 Clean Power Plan was struck down by the Supreme Court and later overturned by President Donald Trump.
Last year, the Supreme Court limited how the Clean Air Act could be used to reduce climate-changing emissions from power plants. The 6-3 ruling affirmed the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, but said it could not force a nationwide shift away from coal to generate electricity.
Environmental Defense Fund general counsel Vickie Patton said the rule relies on the EPA’s traditional authority to regulate air pollution and is “consistent with the language in the majority opinion” of Chief Justice John Roberts.
“What you’re looking at here is a proposal that very carefully addresses the concerns of the Supreme Court,” she said.
The EPA said its new rules will give plant operators the flexibility to meet the new standards with the method they choose. Rather than setting a limit that all plants must meet, the agency said it would set a series of targets based on the size of the plant, how often it is used and whether it is scheduled to retire. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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