<\/div>\n
Related article<\/span> Can this ocean-based carbon plant help save the world? Some scientists are raising red flags<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n After a significant court challenge to Obama-era rules prevailed at the Supreme Court in 2022, the new regulations give power generators options to choose how they meet pollution requirements. And the EPA announced in February it would delay its rule-making process for carbon emissions from existing gas plants, which had initially been covered under the agency\u2019s proposal last year. <\/p>\n
A senior administration official said the EPA was \u201creally confident\u201d it had \u201ccarefully crafted\u201d the final rules within the confines of the law. But some industry stakeholders said it was just the opposite. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe path outlined by the EPA today is unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable,\u201d National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson said in a statement, arguing the actions disregard recent Supreme Court rulings. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be lawsuits,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Biden has made combatting the climate crisis a bigger priority than any other president in history, presiding over the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, the nation\u2019s largest-ever climate investment. But while the IRA contained billions in clean energy tax subsidies \u2013 a boatload of carrots for power companies to clean up their pollution \u2013 the EPA rules serve as a stick. <\/p>\n
EPA\u2019s pollution rules are less restrictive than the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which was challenged and struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022. <\/p>\n
Under the rules, utilities can retrofit existing coal or new gas-fired power plants with equipment to capture and store carbon pollution \u2013 the method the EPA recommends as the \u201cbest system of emissions reduction,\u201d because it is proven and cost-effective. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
Related article<\/span> Global carbon pollution hits record high even as renewables surge<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Companies could also choose to\u00a0retire fossil fuel plants and shift to less expensive and cleaner sources of energy like wind and solar. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf they choose to retire a plant instead of retrofitting it, that\u2019s their choice,\u201d Doniger said. \u201cThere\u2019ll be a lot of charges that EPA is mandating this and mandating that, but this has been designed to follow the Supreme Court\u2019s guidance.\u201d <\/p>\n
The EPA also strengthened the final rules from its original proposal, moving up the retirement deadline for existing coal plants that refuse to outfit with carbon capture, and covering more new natural gas plants than it had originally proposed. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
Related card<\/span> The world dumps 2,000 truckloads of plastic into the ocean each year. Here\u2019s where a lot of it ends up<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some power generators are unconvinced carbon capture will be the best method to meet the EPA\u2019s requirements. The trade group for utilities, Edison Electric Institute, said in a statement it was concerned about the lack of existing pipes and wells to transport and store the captured carbon. The technology \u201cis not yet ready for full-scale, economy-wide deployment, nor is there sufficient time to permit, finance, and build the CCS infrastructure needed for compliance by 2032,\u201d EEI president and CEO Dan Brouillette said in a statement. <\/p>\n
The EPA also finalized its strongest-ever standards to cut\u00a0mercury pollution and harmful particulate matter from coal-fired power plants, including from lignite coal plants, by up to 70%. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin, meaning it is poisonous to the human body and can irreversibly damage the nervous system, kidneys, liver, lungs, digestive system and immune system. <\/p>\n
Mercury released from power plants may hurt public health in two major ways. If people breathe in the vapor, which is odorless and colorless, it can hurt their lungs, brain and kidneys and can get into their bloodstream. Mercury vapor from coal plants can also travel long distances and fall to the ground in the form of rain, snow and sleet, contaminating land and water and poisoning fish. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
Related article<\/span> Extreme temperatures are tied to more than half a million stroke deaths a year. With climate change, expect more<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n In addition to the new standards, power plants will have to install continuous monitoring systems looking for emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants like arsenic, chromium, cobalt, nickel. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a really important step,\u201d said Paul Billings, national senior vice president for public policy with the American Lung Association, calling the pollutants \u201creally bad for human health.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition, EPA\u2019s rules regulate three types of wastewater generated at coal-fired power plants and address water stored in coal ash ponds \u2013 reducing this form of pollution by close to 600 million pounds per year. <\/p>\n
Finally, EPA is closing loopholes for toxic coal ash \u2013 making sure power plants must safely dispose of coal ash previously dumped at unregulated landfills. <\/p>\n
\u201cAny one of [these rules] individually is a monumental achievement,\u201d said Holly Bender, senior director for energy campaigns at the Sierra Club. \u201cCollectively, these rules send a very strong signal to the electric power industry that it is no longer okay to contribute to these significant public health harms.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a highly anticipated suite of rules to cut hazardous, planet-warming pollution generated by power plants in\u00a0one of its most significant environment and climate actions to-date. The Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s new rules will compel\u00a0coal and new natural gas power plants to either cut or capture 90% of their climate pollution <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":18348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}