White House Statement On The New "Clean Power" Plan

(This image of a U.S. coal-burning power plant is from greenpeace.org.)

On Monday, President Obama announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is instituting tough new pollution standards for power plants in the United States. The plan will not only help to protect the world from the disastrous effects of climate change, but will also improve the health and safety of American citizens (by cleaning up the air we must breathe).

The Republicans have already started whining about the plan, which is no surprise, since they consider the campaign donations they will receive from the power industry much more important than citizen safety or the impending climate change disaster.

Before the media gives those Republican lies too much air time, I thought we should see what the real facts are about this new plan. Here is part of the statement released by the White House press office:

KEY FEATURES OF THE CLEAN POWER PLAN

The final Clean Power Plan takes into account the unprecedented input EPA received through extensive outreach, including the 4 million comments that were submitted to the agency during the public comment period. The result is a fair, flexible program that will strengthen the fast-growing trend toward cleaner and lower-polluting American energy. The Clean Power Plan significantly reduces carbon pollution from the electric power sector while advancing clean energy innovation, development, and deployment. It ensures the U.S. will stay on a path of long-term clean energy investments that will maintain the reliability of our electric grid, promote affordable and clean energy for all Americans, and continue United States leadership on climate action. The Clean Power Plan:   

• Provides Flexibility to States to Choose How to Meet Carbon Standards: EPA’s Clean Power Plan establishes carbon pollution standards for power plants, called carbon dioxide (CO2) emission performance rates. States develop and implement tailored plans to ensure that the power plants in their state meet these standards– either individually, together, or in combination with other measures like improvements in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The final rule provides more flexibility in how state plans can be designed and implemented, including: streamlined opportunities for states to include proven strategies like trading and demand-side energy efficiency in their plans, and allows states to develop “trading ready” plans to participate in “opt in” to an emission credit trading market with other states taking parallel approaches without the need for interstate agreements. All low-carbon electricity generation technologies, including renewables, energy efficiency, natural gas, nuclear and carbon capture and storage, can play a role in state plans.
   
• More Time for States Paired With Strong Incentives for Early Deployment of Clean Energy: State plans are due in September of 2016, but states that need more time can make an initial submission and request extensions of up to two years for final plan submission.  The compliance averaging period begins in 2022 instead of 2020, and emission reductions are phased in on a gradual “glide path” to 2030. These provisions to give states and companies more time to prepare for compliance are paired with a new Clean Energy Incentive Program to drive deployment of renewable energy and low-income energy efficiency before 2022.
   
• Creates Jobs and Saves Money for Families and Businesses: The Clean Power Plan builds on the progress states, cities, and businesses and have been making for years. Since the beginning of 2010, the average cost of a solar electric system has dropped by half and wind is increasingly competitive nationwide. The Clean Power Plan will drive significant new investment in cleaner, more modern and more efficient technologies, creating tens of thousands of jobs. Under the Clean Power Plan, by 2030, renewables will account for 28 percent of our capacity, up from 22 percent in the proposed rule. Due to these improvements, the Clean Power Plan will save the average American nearly $85 on their energy bill in 2030, and save consumers a total of $155 billion through 2020-2030, reducing enough energy to power 30 million homes.
   
• Rewards States for Early Investment in Clean Energy, Focusing on Low-Income Communities: The Clean Power Plan establishes a Clean Energy Incentive Program that will drive additional early deployment of renewable energy and low-income energy efficiency. Under the program, credits for electricity generated from renewables in 2020 and 2021 will be awarded to projects that begin construction after participating states submit their final implementation plans. The program also prioritizes early investment in energy efficiency projects in low-income communities by the Federal government awarding these projects double the number of credits in 2020 and 2021. Taken together, these incentives will drive faster renewable energy deployment, further reduce technology costs, and lay the foundation for deep long-term cuts in carbon pollution. In addition, the Clean Energy Incentive Plan provides additional flexibility for states, and will increase the overall net benefits of the Clean Power Plan.
   
• Ensures Grid Reliability: The Clean Power Plan contains several important features to ensure grid reliability as we move to cleaner sources of power. In addition to giving states more time to develop implementation plans, starting compliance in 2022, and phasing in the targets over the decade, the rule requires states to address reliability in their state plans. The final rule also provides a “reliability safety valve” to address any reliability challenges that arise on a case-by-case basis. These measures are built on a framework that is inherently flexible in that it does not impose plant-specific requirements and provides states flexibility to smooth out their emission reductions over the period of the plan and across sources.
   
• Continues U.S. Leadership on Climate Change: The Clean Power Plan continues United States leadership on climate change. By driving emission reductions from power plants, the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the Clean Power Plan builds on prior Administration steps to reduce emissions, including historic investments to deploy clean energy technologies, standards to double the fuel economy of our cars and light trucks, and steps to reduce methane pollution. Taken together these measures put the United States on track to achieve the President’s near-term target to reduce emissions in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and lay a strong foundation to deliver against our long-term target to reduce emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The release of the Clean Power Plan continues momentum towards international climate talks in Paris in December, building on announcements to-date of post-2020 targets by countries representing 70 percent of global energy based carbon emissions. 
   
• Sets State Targets in a Way That Is Fair and Is Directly Responsive to Input from States, Utilities, and Stakeholders: In response to input from stakeholders, the final Clean Power Plan modifies the way that state targets are set by using an approach that better reflects the way the electricity grid operates, using updated information about the cost and availability of clean generation technologies, and establishing separate emission performance rates for all coal plants and all gas plants. 
   
• Maintains Energy Efficiency as Key Compliance Tool: In addition to on-site efficiency and greater are reliance on low and zero carbon generation, the Clean Power Plan provides states with broad flexibility to design carbon reduction plans that include energy efficiency and other emission reduction strategies.  EPA’s analysis shows that energy efficiency is expected to play a major role in meeting the state targets as a cost-effective and widely-available carbon reduction tool, saving enough energy to power 30 million homes and putting money back in ratepayers’ pockets.
   
• Requires States to Engage with Vulnerable Populations: The Clean Power Plan includes provisions that require states to meaningfully engage with low-income, minority, and tribal communities, as the states develop their plans. EPA also encourages states to engage with workers and their representatives in the utility and related sectors in developing their state plans.
   
• Includes a Proposed Federal Implementation Plan: EPA is also releasing a proposed federal plan today. This proposed plan will provide a model states can use in designing their plans, and when finalized, will be a backstop to ensure that the Clean Power Plan standards are met in every state. 

Since the Clean Air Act became law more than 45 years ago with bipartisan support, the EPA has continued to protect the health of communities, in particular those vulnerable to the impacts of harmful air pollution, while the economy has continued to grow. In fact, since 1970, air pollution has decreased by nearly 70 percent while the economy has tripled in size. The Clean Power Plan builds on this progress, while providing states the flexibility and tools to transition to clean, reliable, and affordable electricity.

And Here are some of the myths and facts about the new plan:

Myth: Carbon pollution standards will destroy jobs and hurt the economy.

Fact: Americans know we can cut pollution and protect the health of our kids while creating jobs.

Myth: Carbon pollution standards will cause Americans’ utility bills to spike.

Fact: Cutting carbon pollution will help eliminate waste and save families money on their electric bills.

Myth: Carbon pollution standards will hit low-income communities the hardest.

Fact: EPA’s Clean Power Plan will protect the health of low-income communities and help them save on their energy bills.

Myth: This administration is waging a war on coal.

Fact: For years, the President’s political opponents have been blaming him for market trends that started well before the President took office.

Myth: This rule threatens the reliability of Americans’ electricity.

Fact: This flexible proposal allows states to implement the standards without impacting reliability.

Myth: The Clean Power Plan is regulatory overreach.

Fact: The Clean Power Plan is clearly consistent with EPA’s legal authorities

Myth: The final Clean Power Plan drops energy efficiency.

Fact: Investment in energy efficiency will be a powerful strategy for compliance under the final Clean Power Plan.

Myth: Climate change isn’t real.

Fact: Climate change is real, it’s happening now, and it’s affecting every region of the country.

Public Supports The EPA's New Rules For Power Plants

(This cartoon image is by Adam Zyglis in The Buffalo News.)

It has become obvious in the last few years that the Republicans will do nothing to stop global climate change (commonly called global warming). They have rejected science as a party, and were long ago bought and paid for by corporate America -- and those two facts combine to make up their total disregard for this country's environment (present and future). It has also become evident that they will use their majority in the House to block any environmental legislation proposed by the president or congressional Democrats.

President Obama has finally realized that he can no longer wait for this do-nothing Congress to act, and instructed the Environmental protection Agency (EPA) to do their job (and enact new tougher emissions rules) -- and last week the EPA did just that. They issued new rules for cleaning up power plant emissions in their Clean Power Plan -- a plan that will lower power plant emissions by 30% (over 2005 levels) by 2030.

This is not a plan that places an onerous burden on U.S. power plants. Each state is allowed to come up with its own plan for meeting the new goals, and the plants have 16 years to come into compliance. There is no legitimate reason why they should not be able to do that -- and do it without undue cost or loss of jobs.

Of course the national Chamber of Commerce (which never met a coal, oil, gas, or energy company it didn't love) immediately began to scream (and churn out propaganda about how this will devastate the nation's energy system). And they were joined by the coal industry (who knows that the dirtiest power plants in the country are coal burning plants).

But these entities are out-of-line -- and out-of-step with the wishes of the American population. Americans know that something must be done, and if Congress won't act, then the EPA must do so on its own. A whopping 70% of Americans say the federal government should require states to limit pollution due to the production of greenhouse gases from power plants. And 63% say this should be done even if it results in a $20 a month higher electric bill.

The survey also shows that the public is starting to come around and realize that global climate change is a problem that must be dealt with. About 57% of the public now sees global warming as a big problem for the United States.

The charts above were made from information contained in the latest ABC News /Washington Post Poll -- taken between May 29th and June 1st of a random national sample of 1,002 adults (with a margin of error of about 3.5 points).

GOP & Public Disagree On EPA Regulations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just announced new and stricter regulations for new power plants -- regulations that will mandate they produce a much lower level of CO2 emissions (which is a primary cause of global climate change). The regulations are something the Obama administration can do without congressional approval.

But the congressional GOP is upset about the new regulations -- first, because they oppose everything proposed by President Obama (just because it was proposed by the president), and second, because most of those congressional Republicans sold out long ago to the energy industry (both the oil, gas, & coal industries, and the electricity producers who use those energy sources).

And those GOP representatives in the House of Representatives are planning to eliminate the new regulations. When the debt ceiling fight comes up next month, they are planning to demand the new EPA regulations be abandoned (along with the defunding of Obamacare) -- or they will cause the nation to default on its debts by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. The problem is that it once again puts the Republicans at odds with the desires of most Americans.

That is the findings of a new Rasmussen Poll (done on September 20th and 21st of 1,000 likely nationwide voters, with a 3 point margin of error). That survey found that 53% of likely voters agree with the new EPA regulations, while only 33% oppose them (and 14% don't know what they think about those regulations).

Are Electric Cars The Answer To Pollution ?

The picture above is of the Nissan Leaf -- an all-electric automobile. It is advertised as a zero emission vehicle because it has no exhaust pollution like a gas-powered car does. Electric cars are being touted as an answer to the environmental concerns being raised by the continuing use of fossil fuels that foul our air and contribute to global climate change. But is that really the case?

A new study, done by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, says that may not be true. They cite two reasons for this. First, the construction of an electric car produces more factory pollution than the production of a gas-powered car. This is because of the chemicals that go into making the battery (which actually results in a more toxic brew of pollution). But even though this is true, electric cars would still reduce pollution if it was not for the second factor -- where the cars get their electricity.

While these cars don't need gasoline, they still must get their power from somewhere. And right now, that would be existing power plants, which would have to produce more power to take care of this added need for electricity -- and most of that power is produced from the burning of fossil fuels. When you combine the extra pollution from building the electric cars and the extra pollution from getting the electricity from dirty power plants, the result (according to the study) is that electric cars don't have any advantage over gas-powered automobiles (especially the high-mileage sub-compacts) as far as the environment is concerned.

But that does not mean the electric car is not a good idea -- only that it cannot solve the problem of pollution without also addressing the source of their electric power also. The problem is not quite as acute in Europe, where they get a larger percentage of their electricity from non-fossil fuel sources (like solar, wind, and nuclear power). But it is a major problem in the United States, where over 85% of the electricity produced is from fossil fuels -- especially the burning of coal.

There has been a lot of talk lately, even from our president, about the promise of "claen" coal. Don't be mislead. There is no such thing as clean coal. That is just propaganda fed to the public by the coal companies. Even after washing and treating coal, it is still the dirtiest of all the fossil fuels -- and pollution capturing techniques are still just a dream (and may never be a reality).

I still think electric cars are a good idea, but until we cut the use of fossil fuels to produce electricity and replace that with clean (and hopefully renewable) sources of electricity production, it will just be a good idea that failed. The use of electric cars cannot replace the need to clean up our power plants. In fact, it increases the need to do that.

Power Plants Are The Biggest "Global Warming" Polluters

Back during the Bush administration, this nation's power plants were excluded from many of the Environmental Protection Agency's pollution regulations. And even though auto pollution was significantly reduced and other industries had to clean up their act, there really wasn't much of a dent put into the pollution being released into the air -- especially as it relates to the pollutants that cause global climate change (commonly referred to as "global warming").

Even though Bush is no longer in power, the Republicans have continued their efforts to protect their buddies in the power production industry. Recently, they even tried to put an amendment on the payroll tax bill that would delay for another five years making the power plants abide by EPA regulations. Maybe they knew what the rest of us suspected -- that the power plants, especially those using coal, were producing far more than their share of the nation's pollution.

On Wednesday, the United States government released the most detailed report yet on just where most global warming pollution was coming from. And there was one industry that produced far more pollution than any other. According to the report, the power plants in America produce an amazing 72% of all the pollution reported to the EPA in 2010. Can you believe that? Only one industry, the power plants, produce nearly three-quarters of all the pollution causing global climate change.

It is time we stop letting the power producers off the hook, especially those who still use coal to fire their plants. And don't even talk to me about "clean coal" -- that is a myth created by the coal industry and simply does not exist. As a country, we must demand action from the power industry to clean up their act. And we must demand the government do more to help the nation move to clean and renewable sources of energy production.

The states with the dirtiest power plants are Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, West Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wyoming, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky.

A Holiday Present From The EPA

The people of the United States is getting a wonderful, though long overdue, holiday present from the Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They are finally issuing rules which will force the coal-fired energy plants to either clean up their act (install devices to prevent pollution) or shut down.

And we're not just talking about preventing carbon dioxide emissions here. The new rules will "slash mercury pollution from burning coal by 90 percent, lung-damaging acid gases by 88 percent and soot-producing sulfur dioxide by 41 percent", along with a whole host of other poisons and cancer-causing chemicals. It will save American lives by cleaning the air, along with streams, rivers, and lakes.

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson called the new rules "the biggest clean air action yet", even bigger than the rule limiting cross-state line pollution and the agreement to double vehicle fuel economy standards. She said, "Before this rule, there were no national standards limiting the amount of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases that power plants across the country could release into the air that we breathe.

Power Plants Increase Pollution Again

It is a fact that power plants, which number about 1000, produce about one/third of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, that is dumped into our air each year. That's about 2 billion tons of pollution each year. That's a huge amount of pollution for just one industry to be responsible for.

Since he's been in office, Bush has done nothing to try and rein in this pollution by the huge energy companies. In the pitiful energy bill recently passed, it called for automobiles to be more efficient, but Bush made it clear he would veto anything that called for cuts in emissions by the power companies.

The new figures show how little is being asked of these companies. Last year, power plants increased their pollution output by 2.9% (even though the demand for electricity grew only 2.3%). That's about another 60 million tons of carbon dioxide they dumped into the atmosphere, over and above the amount they were already producing.

We have reached the point where something must be done about the production of greenhouse gases. Frankly, an industry that produces one/third of these gases each year can no longer be ignored or exempted. The power companies must be forced to clean up their act.

Instead of producing an additional 60 million tons of pollutants each year in addition to the 2 billion tons they already produce, it is time for them to start reducing the amount of these gases each year.

Of course, Texas still leads the nation in power plant pollution. The top five states in power plant pollution are:

1. Texas (262 million tons)

2. Ohio (138.6 million tons)

3. Florida (134.5 million tons)

4. Indiana (132 million tons)

5. Pennsylvania (123.6 million tons)

Texas Leads Nation In Power Plant Pollution

Well, Texas has another first place -- that is, another first place it should be ashamed of. It seems that Texas power plants produce more carbon dioxide pollution than those of any other state. In fact, Texas plants produce about twice as much pollution as the number two state -- Florida.

And who is one of the worst Texas polluters? Luminant Power, formerly known as TXU, owns three of the largest polluting plants in the state. That would be the same TXU that charges among the highest prices to consumers in the nation (thank you Republicans, for deregulation).

That would also be the same TXU that wants to build multiple new coal-burning power plants in Texas. Knowing that they are already one of the state's largest polluters makes it hard to believe the new plants will be any better, even though the company has downplayed the amount of new pollution these plants will produce.

They have already refused to use state-of-the-art gasification techniques for these new plants. I guess doubling Florida's pollution is not bad enough -- are they trying to triple it now?

Of course the company wants us to think they are trying to clean up their act. They point out that they gave $1.8 million to the University of Texas for research. What they don't want you to know is that's just a drop in the bucket alongside their huge windfall profits.

But they needn't worry. I'm sure our state Republican leadership will see to it that they get their new pollution-producing plants. After all, dollars are much more important to them than global climactic change, or the health of the citizens of Texas.