With Clean Power Plan, US Shows It’s Serious About Climate Change
Kristin Meek and Rebecca Gasper – World Resources Institute
Addressing the single largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most important near-term tools the United States can use to help reach its goal of reducing emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025….
When you consider the measures the administration has already taken — like establishing GHG and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and trucks and proposing methane standards for new landfills — and is planning to take later this year — including proposed standards for new and modified natural gas infrastructure – it is clear that the United States is taking a comprehensive approach to reducing its GHG emissions.
Watch Obama’s video announcement on new climate policy:
Barack Obama’s Green Plans Could Cripple America’s Economy
Richard Wellings – The Telegraph
With the US recovery still sluggish, President Obama is taking an enormous risk with his tough line on climate change. Low energy prices have played an important part in making American businesses competitive during the global downturn….
Cheap energy isn’t just the result of the shale-gas boom. In much of the US, the power industry continues to rely on coal. Consumers in Kentucky, where over 90% of electricity is generated from coal, enjoy electricity prices roughly 50% lower than in the UK – an indication of the huge potential cost of Obama’s plans.
Carbon emissions from the power sector will be cut by an ambitious 32% by 2030 (compared to 2005 levels). Worse still, the ‘Clean Power Plan’ will favour expensive renewable energy over the relatively low-cost option of cutting emissions by switching from coal to natural gas.
This June 5, 2015. photo shows a view of the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru. The Quelccaya Ice Cap is the world’s largest tropical glacier. Climate change threatens the complete disappearance of the Andes’ tropical glaciers within the next 20 years, putting precious water, energy and food sources at risk. (AP)
Obama Wants You to Think His Climate Plan Is Bold. It’s Not
Eric Holthaus – Salon
As I wrote last year when the rule was initially announced, many states are already well on their way to achieving the required reductions, thanks in part to a recent boom in cheap natural gas and the Obama administration’s choice of 2005 as the basis year for cuts, which was close to America’s all-time peak in carbon emissions. Obama’s plan is significant, but it’s not bold.
A previous version of the targets, announced last year, would have required states to begin implementing changes to their power-producing mix in 2020. The final rule, to be announced Monday, gives states and utilities an extra two years, until 2022. The targets will vary by state, depending on their current energy mix, and states will have flexible ways of achieving emissions reductions, including an option to join an interstate cap-and-trade scheme.