US targets coal-fired power plants with new emissions rules

VANCOUVER – In a move immediately billed as both an ambitious step to address climate change and a grand scheme destined to fail before it starts, the United States has proposed a rule to cut carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants by 30% of 2005 levels by 2030.

Power plants are the largest CO₂ emitters in the United States, accounting for 38% of total emissions, and aging coal-fired plants are the prime culprits. These facilities, however, generate almost 40% of the nation’s electricity.

That reliance is already down from 50% a few years ago because of increasing emissions regulations. But the plan unveiled June 2 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) marks a dramatic step forward in the US government’s fight against CO₂.

The plan is dramatic in scope, as well as in the battle it will foment, which started the moment the news was announced. …

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