Why Obama is doubling down on new climate change plan (+video)
President Obama's ambitious new climate rules reflect an administration emboldened by recent victories on both domestic and global issues.
Last June, the Obama administration proposed the most ambitious climate regulations the country has ever seen. Since then, the draft version of the so-called Clean Power Plan has faced threats from the courts, Congress, and state and local leaders who say it violates states rights and threatens to destabilize the US electrical grid. A chorus of lawmakers, industry groups, and officials have called on the administration to curtail or abandon the proposed carbon limits on US power plants.
But the Obama administration isn't budging. On Monday, it is unveiling a finalized version of the Clean Power Plan that is even more aggressive than first proposed.
The doubling down on climate reflects an administration emboldened by recent high-profile victories on other key issues. Having solidified significant gains on health care, gay rights, Iran nuclear talks, and relations with Cuba, President Obama appears determined to do the same for another key item of his agenda: climate change.
It's also part of a concerted effort to demonstrate that the world's largest economy and, after China, the second-largest carbon emitter, is serious about decarbonizing its energy supply. In just three short months, diplomats will convene in Paris talks for what is widely seen as a last-ditch effort to reach a substantive global climate deal. US officials and others from around the globe have repeatedly said a strong showing from the US is a prerequisite for action from other major emitters and contributions from the developing world.
"Power plants are the single biggest source of the harmful carbon pollution that contributes to climate change," Mr. Obama said in a video posted to Facebook over the weekend. "But until now, there have been no federal limits to the amount of that pollution those plants can dump into the air."
The original rules required a 30 percent cut in power sector emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. The final rules tack on an extra 2 percent to that goal. Last year's proposal leaned heavily on cleaner burning natural gas to serve as a bridge fuel to zero-carbon sources like solar and wind power. The final Clean Power Plan calls for a larger share of renewable energy than before, potentially diminishing the role natural gas will play in the country's ongoing transition to cleaner energy.
In unveiling the final rules, the Environmental Protection Agency did offer a bit of a reprieve on deadlines. Instead of submitting their plans to cut emissions by 2017, states now have an extra year to chart a course toward decarbonization. Previously, states had to achieve those goals by 2020. The new rules give states until 2022.
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