Biden's EPA proposes crackdown on power plant carbon emissions

The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled a sweeping plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions from the US power industry, one of the biggest steps so far in its effort to decarbonize the economy to fight climate change.

The proposal would limit how much carbon dioxide power plants, which are the source of more than a quarter of US emissions, can chuff into the atmosphere, putting the industry on a years-long course to install billions of dollars of new equipment or shut down.

Environmental groups and scientists have long argued that such steps are crucial to curb global warming, but fossil fuel-producing states argue that they represent government overreach and threaten to destabilize the electric grid.

The proposal sets standards that would push power companies to install carbon capture equipment (CCS) that can siphon the CO2 from a plant’s smokestack before it reaches the atmosphere, or use super-low-emissions hydrogen as a fuel.

The Environmental Protection Agency projects the plan would cut carbon emissions from coal plants and new gas plants by 617 million tons between 2028 and 2042, the equivalent of reducing the annual emissions of 137 million passenger vehicles.

"Today we're proposing new technology standards that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants, protecting health and protecting our planet," EPA Administrator Michael Regan told students at the University of Maryland on their last day of school on Thursday.

Regan said that the agency has wielded the power of the federal Clean Air Act to craft the new power plant rules, along with a suite of other measures aimed at tackling vehicle emissions, as well as potent greenhouse gases methane and HFCs, that would reduce the equivalent of 15 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions between 2022 and 2055.

White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters the proposal will keep the US on track to meet its goal to achieve net-zero power sector emissions by 2035.

"When you look at what is in the rule and what is proposed we are absolutely in line with the president's goal," he said.

Reuters