Power plants are at present the single largest source of carbon pollution in the United States. Carbon pollution not only is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, but also poisons people, such as causing cancer.
On June 2, 2014, at the direction of President Barak Obama, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the Clean Power Plan proposal, which for the first time cuts carbon pollution from existing power plants up to 30%. The administration states that the Clean Power Plan will ?protect public health, move the United States toward a cleaner environment, and fight climate change, while supplying Americans with reliable an,d affordable power.?
“Climate change, fueled by carbon pollution, supercharges risks to our health, our economy, and our way of life. EPA is delivering on a vital piece of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan by proposing a Clean Power Plan that will cut harmful carbon pollution from our largest source–power plants,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
“By leveraging cleaner energy sources and cutting energy waste, this plan will clean the air we breathe while helping slow climate change so we can leave a safe and healthy future for our kids. We don’t have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment–our action will sharpen America’s competitive edge, spur innovation, and create jobs.”
About one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions comes from power plants. Currently, there are limits for the amount of other deadly pollutants such as arsenic, mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particle pollutant that power plans can emit. But the Clean Power Plan would be the first national limit on the amount of carbon pollution level.
According to the EPA, by 2030, the steps they are taking will:
- Cut carbon emission from the power sector by 30 percent nationwide below 2005 levels, which is equal to the emissions from powering more than half the homes in the United States for one year;
- Cut particle pollution, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide by more than 25 percent as a co-benefit;
- Avoid up to 6,600 premature deaths, up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children, and up to 490,000 missed work or school days?providing up to $93 billion in climate and public health benefits; and
- Shrink electricity bills roughly 8 percent by increasing energy efficiency and reducing demand in the electricity system.
Many environmentalists now argue?that the Clean Power Plan does not go far or quickly enough, stating that greenhouse gases should be cut to a larger degree and within a shorter time-frame. Furthermore, many argue that the government should make the United States a leader in sustainable energy sources–such as from wind, solar, and geo-thermal sources.
For instance in May, Germany hit an impressive renewable energy milestone: nearly 75 percent of the countries overall electricity now comes from renewable sources, with wind and solar filling a huge portion of their country’s power demand.
Some argue that oil companies in the United States have such an unfair stranglehold on the U.S. government so that such a transformation to renewable sources are not yet possible here.
However, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, a huge bipartisan majority of Americans support regulating carbon from power plants.?Seventy percent of Americans say the federal government should require limits on greenhouse gases.
Republican leaders largely dismissed the Clean Power Plan, stating, in part, that it will force many corporations?to send their power plants abroad, creating more greenhouse gases and taking away jobs from Americans.
Source: EPA.gov
edited by tw
