The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Tuesday changes to the federal plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, but Rhode Island’s governor says the new rule is “regressive.”
The EPA wants to replace the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which would have required states to move away from fossil-fueled power plants to reduce the nation’s carbon emissions by 32 percent over a 25-year period.
However, Bill Wehrum, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said under the federal Clean Air Act, the agency can’t control the entire electrical system.
“However much people may want EPA to regulate power grids, however much people may want EPA to demand that new renewable energy be built instead of fossil-fuel plants, we do not have that authority under this part of the act,” Wehrum said.
EPA is proposing the Affordable Clean Energy Rule to give states the primary authority to design their own plans to cut emissions from coal-fired power plants.
“It respects the rule of law and will enable states to build affordable, clean and reliable energy portfolios,” Andrew Wheeler, EPA acting administrator, said. “The era of top-down, one-size-fits-all federal mandates is over.”
The EPA will provide states with recommended “heat rate improvements” with the goal of making existing coal-fired power plants more efficient so they can release less carbon dioxide into the air.
However, David Doniger from the New York-based environmental advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council is worried the new rule could boost coal production and increase air pollution that drifts into New England from other states.
“So if you get increases in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide from coal plants that are running more or running longer, then the downwind states, including the states in New England, will bear the brunt of this dangerous air pollution,” Doniger said.
Doniger added promoting coal could affect job growth in the clean energy industry.
There are no coal-fired power plants currently operating in Rhode Island or Massachusetts. The governors from both states have pledged to add more clean energy resources, including solar and offshore wind, to their renewable energy portfolios.
“The Trump administration is putting people’s health and our environment in harm’s way,” Gina Raimondo, Democractic governor of Rhode Island, said. “This regressive proposal will result in increased greenhouse gas emissions and is filled with loopholes that will allow older power plants to continue to operate without effective pollution controls.”
Raimondo said her administration will use every tool available to fight the Trump administration’s “short-sighted policy changes.”
The Clean Power Plan has never gone into effect. In 2015 it was challenged in court by 27 states, 24 trade associations, 37 rural electric co-ops and three labor unions as being unconstiutional.
Still, from 2005-2017 Wheeler said energy-related carbon emissions have gone down in the U.S. by 14 percent.
In 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing EPA to review the Clean Power Plan to repeal, replace or revise it.
EPA will accept public comments on the proposed Affordable Clean Energy Rule for 60 days.
This post has been updated with the governor’s comments.
