EPA's New Carbon Limits for Power Plants

Carbon limits are being proposed on power plants On September 20th, 2013, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy announced that the EPA has put forth a new proposal that will curtail climate change causing emissions from power plants. Future coal and gas power plants will each have their own standards for natural.

Despite the intransigence of Republicans in Congress, President Obama is using his executive powers to combat the climate crisis. This proposal comes in response to the President’s June 25, 2013 Memorandum to EPA on “Power Sector Carbon Pollution Standards,” which is a major part of the President’s Climate Action Plan.

The proposed Clean Air Act standards will cut carbon pollution from new power plants that will both combat climate change and improve public health. The EPA has also reached out to state, tribal, and local governments, industry and labor leaders, non-profits, and others to establish carbon pollution standards for existing power plants by June 1, 2014.

This new EPA proposal is of great importance to address climate change as power plants are the largest source of emissions in the US accounting for around one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

The proposed new rules would impose the following limits

New large natural gas-fired turbines: 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour
New small natural gas-fired turbines: 1,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour.
New coal-fired units: 1,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour, with an option to meet a somewhat tighter limit if they choose to average emissions over multiple years, giving those units additional operational flexibility.