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Obama govt’s toughest action yet orders 30% cut in carbon emissions

Photo by Reuters

Photo by Duane Daws

2nd June 2014

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

  

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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday introduced its toughest action yet to cut down on carbon emissions, ordering a 30% reduction from 2005 levels by 2030 in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants, not auguring well for struggling thermal coal producers, which had earlier this year expressed some optimism for recovering prices.

Under the direction of US President Barack Obama, the ‘Clean Power Bill’ would be implemented through a state-federal partnership under which states would identify a path forward using either current or new electricity production and pollution control policies to meet the programme’s proposed goals.

Power plants account for roughly one-third of all domestic greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in the US. While there are limits in place for the level of arsenic, mercury, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particle pollution that power plants can emit, there are currently no national limits on carbon pollution levels.

In 2009, the EPA determined that GHG pollution threatened Americans' health and welfare by leading to long-lasting changes in the climate that could have a range of negative effects on human health and the environment. There is also a growing awareness and scientific consensus that global warming is indeed taking place, caused by the unprecedented release of CO2 into the environment by humans.

According to the EPA, the average temperature had risen in most US states since 1901, with seven of the top ten warmest years on record occurring since 1998. Further, climate and weather disasters in 2012 cost the American economy more than $100-billion.

REDUCTION PLANS

The proposal set out guidelines for states to develop plans that would meet state-specific goals to reduce carbon pollution and gave them the flexibility to design a programme that made the most sense for their unique situation.

With the Clean Power Plan, the proposed EPA guidelines would aim to build on trends already under way in states and the power sector to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants, making them more efficient and less polluting. The proposal followed through on the steps laid out in President Obama’s ‘Climate Action Plan’ and the June 2013 ‘Presidential Memorandum’.

States could choose the “right mix” of generation using diverse fuels, energy efficiency and demand-side management to meet the goals and their own needs. It allowed them to work alone to develop individual plans or to work together with other states to develop multistate plans.

The plan would also result in an estimated 25% cut to particle pollution, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide as a co-benefit.

"Climate change, fuelled by carbon pollution, supercharges risks to our health, our economy and our way of life. EPA is delivering on a vital piece of President Obama's Climate Action Plan by proposing a Clean Power Plan that will cut harmful carbon pollution from our largest source – power plants,” EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said.

“By leveraging cleaner energy sources and cutting energy waste, this plan will clean the air we breathe while helping slow climate change so we can [ensure] a safe and healthy future for our kids. We don't have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment – our action will sharpen America’s competitive edge, spur innovation and create jobs,” she added.

The proposal outlined a flexible timeline for states to follow with regard to submitting plans to the agency by June 2016, also providing the option to use a two-step process for submitting final plans if more time was needed.

The EPA would accept comment on the proposal for up to 120 days after publication in the Federal Register and would hold four public hearings on the proposal during the week of July 28, in Denver, Atlanta, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh. Based on this input, the EPA would finalise standards by next June.

OPPOSITION CRITICISM

Some analysts speculate that should the proposed rules make it through the likely bombardment of legal challenges from industry players, it could result in a significant number of coal-fired power plants being shuttered.

The US Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Thomas Donohue argued that the proposed carbon framework would add "immense cost" and regulatory burdens on America’s job creators.

"[The proposed rules] will have a profound effect on the economy, on businesses and families. The chamber will be actively participating in the EPA’s input process on these regulations and will be educating our members and affiliates about their impacts," Donohue said in a statement.

The business group released a report last week saying that the rule would cost the economy $50-billion a year.

However, the EPA argued that the carbon cuts would lead to climate and health benefits worth between $55-billion to $93-billion in 2030, including avoiding 2 700 to 6 600 premature deaths and 140 000 to 150 000 asthma attacks in children.

ACTIVIST APPLAUSE

Environmentalist nongovernmental organisation the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) hailed the move as “a giant leap forward in protecting the health of all Americans and future generations”.

“It sets fair targets for each state and empowers the states with the flexibility to craft the best local solutions, using an array of compliance tools. And if states embrace the huge energy efficiency opportunities, consumers will save on their electric bills and see hundreds of thousands of jobs created across the country,” NRDC president Frances Beinecke said.

Canadian environmental activist organisation the Pembina Institute also welcomed the Bill, saying it sent a strong signal that the US was serious about addressing its largest source of GHG pollution.

"In contrast, the Canadian government continues to resist action on addressing its major emissions growth problem – the rapidly increasing greenhouse-gas pollution from oil sands production.

"While Canada has the same 2020 emissions target as the US, our federal government has failed to produce a plan to meet its goal. As a result, Environment Canada projects that we will miss our 2020 target by more than the current emissions of Canada's entire electricity sector," senior Pembina spokesperson Simon Dyer said.

He suggested that the best way Ottawa could respond to the EPA's proposal would be to make an equally serious commitment to hit Canada’s 2020 climate target and produce the rules required to cut emissions from the oil and gas sector.

"The government’s ongoing delay in releasing those rules is indefensible.”

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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