Finally, we'll see limits on carbon pollution from new power plants

The country got great news last Friday from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): a proposed standard that will limit the amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted from any not-yet-built power plant. Since Congress has long refused to do its job to limit global warming pollution, the Obama Administration is doing their job by issuing this proposed rule. (Actually, it's a re-proposed rule. It was first proposed over a year ago but withdrawn by the EPA since it was felt the rule as first written wouldn't withstand the inevitable court challenges from the fossil fuels industry.)

Ah, yes, speaking of the fossil fuels industry: If you've driven along the Pennsylvania Turnpike recently, you've probably seen the numerous billboards erected by the coal industry, touting "clean coal" (or "less filthy coal," as I like to think of it) as available and affordable and just all-around wonderful. So, one might have expected the coal industry to welcome the EPA's new standard. If coal is so clean, it would have no trouble meeting the new standard, right?

Wrong. The National Mining Association said the new standard “effectively bans coal from America’s power portfolio, leaving new power plants equipped with even the most efficient and environmentally advanced technologies out in the cold.”

Huh? What did I miss?

Note that the standard as proposed would not stop all CO2 from leaving the smokestacks, just 20 to 40 percent of it. That's a good start, but just a start.

And, for now, the dirty old power plants that already exist can continue to belch their carbon pollution unabated into our skies. (Fortunately, the EPA is on track to release another standard next June that will begin to limit the carbon dioxide emitted from existing plants. Stay tuned for what will be a lollapaloozah of a fight around that rule.)

The standard proposed on September 20 isn't a done deal yet. The public can submit comments for up to 60 days. And once the standard goes into effect sometime next year, Congress could still repeal it through an arcane provision called the Congressional Review Act. PennFuture will be there to fight that battle when it invariably arises.

Right now, we're celebrating that the federal government is finally taking action to directly limit emissions from a huge source of carbon pollution.

PennFuture applauds the EPA for this critically important step to protect our health, our kids' future, our economy, and the natural world.