Chicago, IL—(ENEWSPF)—June 2, 2014. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new proposed rule that would require significant emissions reductions from existing power plants. Rep. Jan Schakowsky issued the following statement in response to the announcement:
I applaud President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency on the new proposed rule to reduce carbon emissions from our nation’s more than 600 existing power plants. Carbon pollution is the most significant driver of climate change – accounting for roughly 80 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions that are warming our planet and increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather. Power plants are the largest emitters of carbon pollution in this country, and there are no current restrictions on the amount of carbon they can emit.
The proposed rule is both ambitious and achievable. It will help reduce power plant emissions 30 percent while allowing each state to come up with its own plan to achieve that goal – from ramping up clean energy production to joining state cap-and-trade programs.
Taking this step will protect public health and save lives. Once fully implemented, the rule will prevent up to 6,600 premature deaths, up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children, and up to 490,000 missed work or school days per year.
Until now, energy companies have externalized the impacts of pollution, thus contributing to rising global temperatures, worsening smog, increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events – pushing the costs of dealing with those problems onto the American people. It’s time that those energy producers take responsibility for cleaning up their own mess, and with this rule, they will.
This rule will also grow jobs. By promoting investment in cleaner technologies, our country can become the undisputed leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency – an industry that is expected to generate almost $2 trillion in investment between 2012 and 2018. There are three times as many jobs created per $1 million spent in clean energy than there are in fossil fuel energy, so taking steps to meet the requirements of this rule will benefit American workers.
Today’s proposed rule sends a clear signal to the world that the United States will continue to lead on the issue of climate change in order to protect public health and the environment for this generation and the ones that follow. I strongly support this action, and I will continue to do all I can to ensure that we hold polluters accountable and transition toward cleaner sources of energy.
Source: Schakowsky.house.gov
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EPA Proposes First Guidelines to Cut Carbon Pollution from Existing Power Plants
