The Obama administration has launched the biggest move the US has ever taken to combat climate change by proposing for the first time to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power stations, the main source of climate pollution.
The administration wants by 2030 to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power stations by 30 per cent from 2005 levels, a move that has the potential to transform the US electricity sector but will spark legal and political challenges.
President Barack Obama hopes to make action on climate change part of his legacy and the initiative was welcomed in the EU and elsewhere as a jolt that could bring deadlocked international climate change talks back to life.
Mr Obama is using an untested provision of the 1970 clean air Act to introduce the rules without the approval of Congress but his authority to do so is likely to be challenged in the courts.
The proposal was immediately criticised by Republicans who have blocked legislative action on climate change in Congress and said the proposed measures would kill jobs in the coal industry and raise electricity costs.
Targets
The US Environmental Protection Agency said its targets for emissions cuts, designed to reduce the US’s dependence on coal-fired power plants, were equivalent to cancelling out climate pollution from two-thirds of all cars and trucks in the US.
States would decide how to achieve the cuts by switching to cleaner sources of energy, such as nuclear and wind power, by improving the efficiency of their grids, or by reducing electricity consumption.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, described the EPA’s proposals as “a giant leap forward”. Frances Beinecke, its president, said the standards would be “good for our health [and] good for our economy”.
However, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, which represents mining and power generation companies, said the regulations would have “devastating” effects on the US economy. Mike Duncan, its president, said: “The administration for all intents and purposes is creating America’s next energy crisis.”
The group argues that the EPA standards might be unattainable for some states’ power grids and will “leave millions of Americans with higher electricity bills and at increased risk for rolling blackouts”.
Gina McCarthy, the head of the EPA, which drew up the rules, described the goals as “achievable [and] enforceable”. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014