Source: U.S. EPA via U.S. Global Change Research Program
My inbox is overflowing with emails about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Clean Power Plan."
The plan, unveiled today, would help cut carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, according to the agency.
Reactions have ranged from high praise to condemnation.
“This historic proposal is what we’ve been waiting for,” Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, said in a statement. “This is America’s chance to lead and finally act to crack down on global warming pollution from power plants.”
But Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research in Washington, said in a statement that "President Obama is delivering on his promise to send electricity prices skyrocketing. With this new rule, Americans can expect to pay $200 more each year for their electricity."
Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said New Jersey already meets the carbon emission limits proposed by the EPA, thanks to efforts by the Christie administration and previous ones.
Power plant emissions in New Jersey total 503 pounds of carbon per megawatt hour, below what he understood was the limit of 647 pounds by 2020 and 513 pounds by 2030, Ragonese said.
“We have virtually eliminated coal plants in this state,” he said. “Most have been replaced by natural gas,” and most gas plants have tended to be combined-cycle ones, the cleanest designs of their kind available. These plants can interface easily with renewable energy facilities that tap wind power, for example, he said.
According to an EPA statement, the plan would eliminate emissions equivalent to those from more than half of U.S. homes for a year. It would also cut particle pollution, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide by more than a quarter.
The plan would also avoid as many as 6,600 premature deaths, up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children and as many as 490,000 missed work or school days, the statement says. All told, up to $93 billion in climate and public health benefits would be achieved.
The plan would also cut electric bills roughly 8 percent by boosting energy efficiency and reducing demand for electricity, the statement says.
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, called me to say that the proposal will lead to a significant reduction in pollution from "all the dirty plants in Pennsylvania" that pollute our air.
Ragonese said 3,700 “peaker plants” in New Jersey, which turn on during the hottest times of the year, will be retired or updated by May 2015, further improving air quality.
The DEP likes the EPA’s plan, he said. “Anything that would improve air quality across the nation, that could benefit the entire country” and New Jersey’s air.
