Obama orders steep cuts in emissions from power plants
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama moved ahead Sunday with even tougher greenhouse gas cuts on American power plants, setting up a certain confrontation in the courts with energy producers and Republican-led states.
In finalizing the unprecedented pollution controls, Obama was installing the core of his plan to drastically reduce overall U.S. emissions, as he works to secure a legacy on fighting global warming. Yet it will be up to Obama’s successor to implement his plan.
Opponents planned to sue immediately and ask the courts to block the rule temporarily. Many states have threatened not to comply.
The Obama administration estimated the emissions limits will cost $8.4 billion annually by 2030. The actual price won’t be clear until states decide how they’ll reach their targets, but energy industry advocates said the revision makes Obama’s mandate more burdensome, costly and difficult to achieve.
“They are wrong,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said, accusing opponents of promulgating a “doomsday” scenario.
Last year, the Obama administration proposed the first greenhouse gas limits on existing power plants in U.S. history, triggering a yearlong review and more than 4 million public comments. Obama was to unveil the final rule publicly today during an event at the White House.
“Climate change is not a problem for another generation,” Obama said in a video posted to Facebook. “Not anymore.”
The final version imposes stricter carbon dioxide limits on states than was previously expected: a 32 percent cut by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, the White House said. Obama’s proposed version last year called for a 30 percent cut.
Obama’s rule assigns customized targets to each state, then leaves it up to the state to determine how to meet them. If states refuse to submit plans, the EPA has the authority to impose its own plan, and McCarthy said the administration would release a model federal plan that states could adopt right away.
Under the final rule, states will have an additional two years — until 2022 — to comply, yielding to complaints that the original deadline was too soon. They’ll also have an additional year to submit their implementation plans to Washington.
The federal government plans to offer credits to states that boost renewable sources such as wind and solar in 2020 and 2021.