EPA Proposes Clean Power Plan

Yesterday (June 2, 2014), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed Clean Power Plan, which requires a 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants by 2030. The proposal, using 2005 emission levels as a baseline, would establish the first national approach to reducing these emissions from existing power plants.

The Clean Power Plan proposes a set of guidelines the EPA characterizes as building "on trends already underway in states and the power sector to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants, making them more efficient and less polluting." Citing the "unique mix of emissions and power sources" in each individual state, the EPA identifies state-specific rate-based goals for carbon dioxide emissions as well as the framework for states to use when developing their individual implementation plans.