Yes: New federal carbon emission standards will bring big benefits

The cardinal lesson in today’s hard-nosed political theater is what’s true isn’t always believable, and what’s believable isn’t always true.

Industry-funded political operatives are spending a lot of money to trick voters into believing the Environmental Protection Agency is the root of our energy problems— even though it isn’t true. There is political incentive to sensationalize the impacts of regulations by those connected to polluting industries, when in fact regulations can provide broad benefits to consumers.

On June 2, the EPA proposed that electric utilities reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from existing power plants. While the emission reduction target— cutting emissions by 30 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels— at first sounds big, it’s actually quite modest, as power-plant emissions declined 15 percent between 2005 and 2013. So before the rule is even implemented, we’re already halfway to the finish line. The EPA will finalize the rule after soliciting input from all sectors of the economy over the next year.

The proposal is a modest effort to both address globalwarming and to smooth the transition of changes already underway in the power sector. Importantly, the EPA rule relies on states to design howto reach the emissions reductions.

The rule stems from the 2007 Supreme Court decision that the EPA must regulate greenhouse-gas emissions under its existing Clean Air Act authority. The power sector releases nearly 40 percent of America’s greenhouse-gas emissions, so limiting such pollutants is important.

Criticism from organizations with financial ties to big energy companieswas swift, with claims of price hikes, power blackouts and job losses. But those breathtaking