New EPA Rule Seeks to Cut Carbon Emissions 30% by 2030

The Environmental Protection Agency will propose a draft rule on Monday seeking a 30% reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions by 2030 from existing power plants based on emission levels from 2005, according to two people who have been briefed on the rule, setting in motion the main piece of President Barack Obama's climate-change agenda.

The rule, scheduled to be completed one year from now, will give flexibility to the states, which must implement the rules and submit compliance plans to EPA by June 2016. States can decide how to meet the reductions, including joining or creating new cap-and-trade programs, deploying more renewable energy or ramping up energy-efficiency technologies.

Each state will have different percent reduction standards, and the national average will be 25% by 2020 and 30% by 2030, these people said.

The proposed rule will regulate carbon emissions from hundreds of fossil-fuel power plants across the U.S., including about 600 coal plants, which will be hit hardest by the standard.

New EPA Rule Seeks to Cut Carbon Emissions 30% by 2030

Krugman: Climate Action Is ‘Remarkably Cheap,’ New EPA Rules Would Give ‘U.S. Economy a Boost’

In April the world’s leading scientists, economists, and governments reviewed the literature and came to the broad consensus that even aggressive climate action would reduce the median annual growth of consumption over this century by a mere 0.06%.  And that’s for a scenario in which the rich countries embrace rapid and sharp reductions in CO2, as opposed to the slow and modest reductions the EPA is seeking.  Nor does that analysis factor in the hundreds of trillions of dollars of economic benefit from avoiding climate catastrophe — or the co-benefits of mitigation (such as reduced air pollution).

In May, the world’s leading energy experts said we are headed towards catastrophic 11°F warming but that if we wanted to keep warming to a far safer level, under 4°F warming, it would require investment in clean energy of only about 1 percent of global GDP per year through 2050.  And that investment would be astoundingly cost-effective:  “The $44 trillion additional investment needed to decarbonise the energy system … is more than offset by over $115 trillion in fuel savings — resulting in net savings of $71 trillion.”

Krugman explains that even the latest report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — “clearly meant to convey the impression that the E.P.A.’s new rules would wreak havoc” — actually shows the exact opposite.

In his new column, Krugman repeats the point that the EPA’s proposed rules would boost economic growth because they would create major incentives for new investment. “The U.S. economy is still depressed — and in a depressed economy many of the supposed costs of compliance with energy regulations aren’t costs at all,” he writes. “In particular, building new, low-emission power plants would employ both workers and capital that would otherwise be sitting idle, and would, if anything, give the U.S. economy a boost.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council does the math in its recent economic analysis of the carbon rules, assuming they are written flexibly to encourage things like energy efficiency. NRDC finds that a well-designed rule “can save American households and business customers $37.4 billion on their electric bills in 2020 while creating more than 274,000 jobs.” This is a far more credible analysis then the one by the Chamber, not just because NRDC’s is actually consistent with the economic literature, but also because EPA appears to have been influenced by NRDC’s original proposals for how to do the rule flexibly.

Krugman: Climate Action Is ‘Remarkably Cheap,’ New EPA Rules Would Give ‘U.S. Economy a Boost’

EPA to Take Biggest Step Ever to Fight Climate Change

On Monday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to unveil proposed regulations that could be the biggest step the U.S. has taken yet toward dealing with climate change.  The regulations would limit emissions from power plants, which currently account for 40 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, by far the biggest source.

“There’s a good chance that when history is written, this will be seen as the moment when the U.S. fully committed to combating climate change,” says Michael Greenstone, professor of environmental economics at MIT.  “It’s a tremendous step forward.”

Regulations on power plants have long been seen as the second-best option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  Economists say the cheapest route would be comprehensive energy and climate legislation covering emissions across the entire economy, providing flexibility in how emissions are reduced, and incorporating funding for R&D to develop low-carbon technologies.

While regulations aren’t ideal, they may be the only way to move forward on U.S. climate policy.  And the new rules are expected to be far more flexible than some past regulations, keeping down costs.  The regulations might also help revive efforts at international cooperation on climate change.  The U.S. could point to the EPA rules in international negotiations, promising stricter limits in the future if other companies also take steps to reduce emissions.

Although it remains unlikely that we’ll see the single, comprehensive global treaty to reduce emissions that U.N. negotiators have been attempting for 20 years, collaborations between even a few countries could have big results.  Just 10 countries account for nearly 70 percent of total emissions.  The EPA regulations could also help propel investment in low-carbon technologies, such as renewable energy, as utilities seek to reduce emissions.

EPA to Take Biggest Step Ever to Fight Climate Change

Carbon Pollution Curbs Will Boost Jobs and Save on Electric Bills - NRDC

Hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created and Americans will save billions of dollars on their electric bills when the U.S. adopts a smart plan to reduce carbon pollution from the power plants, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Carbon Pollution Curbs Will Boost Jobs and Save on Electric Bills - NRDC

U.S. Bishops Call for Reduction on Carbon Pollution

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) called on the Environmental Protection Agency to combat climate change in a May 29 letter.  It specifically focused on the issue of carbon pollution, particularly from power plants.

“The USCCB recognizes the importance of finding means to reduce carbon pollution,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami.  “These standards should protect the health and welfare of all people, especially children, the elderly, as well as poor and vulnerable communities, from harmful pollution emitted from power plants and from the impacts of climate change.”

Addressed to Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the letter emphasized the need for specific action on the issue.  "We appreciate your commitment to address this urgent global challenge confronting the human family. The USCCB stands ready to work with you, the Administration, and members of Congress to ensure that measures necessary to address climate change both care for creation and protect 'the least of these.'"

U.S. Bishops Call for Reduction on Carbon Pollution

Texas Coal Plant May Be Environmental Game Changer

There are two planned "clean coal" plants in the U.S. that will both sequester harmful CO2 and generate electricity.  One is in Kemper, Mississippi, the other is in west Texas.

Former Dallas mayor Laura Miller heads up the 3.5 billion dollar Texas Clean Energy Project which, despite the name, is all about making electricity from coal.

But not the old way, as Miller explained.

“21st century coal takes coal and puts it in a large receptacle called a gasifier and you add a little pure oxygen and you heat it up to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit and you make a gas out of the lump of coal.”
“By putting it into a gaseous form,” Miller explained,” you’re much more able to pull out the bad stuff including carbon dioxide.”

The technology is called Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS.

A major Texas utility has agreed to buy captured CO2 from the project to make electricity.  And CO2 will also used to extract oil here in the Permian Basin, the country’s highest producing oilfield.  The captured carbon will be specifically used for enhanced oil recovery.

Texas Coal Plant May Be Environmental Game Changer

Saturday, May 31, 2014