Statement Of Peabody Energy On EPA’s Carbon Regulations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and President Barack Obama unveiled the final rule for existing power sources on Monday with tweaks that offered states additional time and flexibility to comply with the carbon reduction rules.

Peabody indicates a technology path – not artificial caps and taxes – is the better approach to address carbon concerns over time.

“While we appreciate the efforts intended to help offset the financial burden of rising electricity prices and jobs lost due to prematurely shuttered power plants, the final rule still appears to reflect the fundamental flaws of the original proposal”, Emerson said.

While specific information about how the EPA’S national plan would affect Colorado wasn’t available this morning, state officials are expected start crafting a plan to boost energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy across the state.

His Republican opponent, Matt Bevin, says the anti-coal rule would drive up electricity rates in Kentucky.

Last summer, when a draft of the rule was released, the agency proposed requiring power sector climate pollution to decline to 30 percent below 2005’s levels by 2030. She said the new rules will increase the cost of electricity, increasing small businesses’ operating expenses and creating a “a recipe for fewer jobs and slower growth”.

President Obama imposes even steeper cuts on carbon dioxide emissions than previously expected.

The bottom line: If Indiana refuses to write its own plan, one will be written for us by EPA staff in Chicago or Washington, D.C. In our experience, EPA will not understand Indiana’s needs better than the dedicated staff at IDEM, with whom we were proud to serve. Plans are due in September of 2016, but states that need more time will be able to request a two-year extension for final plan submissions.

“Not only will these massive regulations fail to meaningfully affect the global climate, but they could actually end up harming the environment by outsourcing energy production to countries with poor environmental records like India and China”, McConnell said.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Monday he is joining a multi-state challenge to the plan led by West Virginia.

The ERCC adds, “Aside from clear threats to reliability and the economy of the states, state leaders are also mad that EPA has finalized an unprecedented interference into state authority over energy regulation and markets, clearly inconsistent with statutory and Constitutional principles”. He also questioned the legal foundation behind them. The group is pushing EPA to stay the effectiveness of the rule until after it’s litigated on its merits.