During President Obama's State of the Union address on
January 28th, he made his intentions clear that he would
use his authority to continue to push forward new standards and
regulations that would curb the amount carbon pollution US power
plants are allowed to dump into the air. Further still, Obama
stated that the United States must "act with more
urgency" citing continuing climate changes which have seen
droughts and floods affect North American cities in recent
years. Canadians must watch these developments for potential
implications for business.
In furtherance of these positions, Obama has directed the EPA to
issue a draft of a regulation that would set new national standards
for carbon pollution by June 1st of this year. It
appears the brunt of these changes will target coal-fired power
plants, likely forcing hundreds of plant closures throughout the
country, and, as such, coal-heavy states have lobbied the EPA
extensively with respect to the stringency of
