US President Obama unveils regulations to combat climate change

Obama appeared to get emotional when describing the Earth as a “blue marble” in NASA photographs from space that “belongs to all of us”.

The Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled the final version of the Clean Power Plan, a state-by-state initiative that aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants nationwide by 32 percent compared to 2005 levels.

How does it do that?

In March, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wrote a letter to all 50 governors urging them to ignore the EPA rule, calling it “extremely burdensome and costly” and on “shaky legal grounds”. The original date of compliance was 2020.

Some state officials who oppose the rule have said they are considering not submitting a plan at all to the EPA.

A plume of steam billows from the coal-fired Merrimack Station power plant in Bow, N.H. earlier this year. Nevada, for example, has a goal of reducing Carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 35 percent by 2030.

Mr Obama will travel to Paris in December to discuss a global carbon emissions reduction deal. If Obama really wants to make a lasting impact on global warming, he can work across the aisle or across the Pacific in Beijing, to work toward implementing a meaningful, economy-wide carbon tax as quickly as possible.

[Clean-energy debate pitted ambition against legal worries].

Even before this rule was released, it was highly controversial. Many states have threatened not to comply.

Such industry initiatives are encouraging, but energy producers and consumers need incentives to continue moving from fossil fuels to renewables.

So it is not just power plants contributing to coal’s demise? “And these disasters are becoming more frequent, more expensive, and more risky”.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said it predicted the Clean Power Plan will cause electricity prices to rise at least 10%.

To meet their targets, states can use a variety of measures, including new technology to capture emissions, regional cap-and-trade schemes and energy efficiency programs. “Roughly $6 billion has already been invested in renewable energy and clean energy infrastructure in the Silver State”. A few states have said they will not comply, promising to sue.

“(But) when the world faces its toughest challenges, America leads the way forward – that’s what this plan is all about”.

Is the rule too ambitious?

Vermont, because of weather patterns, has been on the receiving end of pollution from power plants to the west. Mercury, a potent neurotoxin, is deposited by prevailing west winds in its lakes and rivers, prompting the Vermont Department of Health warnings to limit fish consumption. It does not touch vehicle, industrial, cement or methane leaks. It’s a proven approach that EPA has used to reduce air pollution under the Clean Air Act for decades.

Reported by Angela Garrone with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, a non-profit that promotes clean energy solutions to climate change, carbon emissions trap in heat causing global warming.