On June 2, 2014, the EPA released its Clean Power Program (CPP),
the cornerstone of the Obama administration's Climate Change
Action Plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The CPP
establishes requirements for states to issue "standards of
performance" for emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from
existing fossil fuel electrical generating units (EGUs) under the
Clean Air Act (CAA) section 111(d). But the broad name EPA has
given to its proposal—Clean Power Program—more
accurately reflects the sweeping nature and scope of its efforts to
help propel the US power sector forward onto a cleaner, less
carbon-intensive path.
The Clean Power Program follows EPA's proposed New Source
Performance Standards for new EGUs under CAA section 111(b) (new
unit rule), published in February 2014. But where the new unit rule
was clearly intended to drive new plant construction toward
coal-fired power with carbon capture and sequestration and natural
gas combined cycle generation, the
