The federal government on Monday laid out its plans to slash carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal-fired power plants, the largest U.S. effort yet to curb the pollution blamed for spurring global climate change.
The plan, announced by the Environmental Protection Agency, calls for a state-by-state cap and reduction effort for carbon pollution created when fossil fuels are burned.
The goal is a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
Coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of carbon in the U.S., which remains second only to China in the amount of greenhouse gases produced. There are currently no limits on how much carbon power plants can emit.
The vast majority of scientists who study the issue say it is human-caused greenhouse gases that are spurring unprecedented climate change, raising air and ocean temperatures that are threatening the environment and human communities. Without major reductions in emissions, experts say carbon levels in the atmosphere, and global temperatures, could increase to a level within a few decades from which the planet may not fully recover.
Environmentalists hailed the Obama administration’s effort to act on a major issue that Congress has been unwilling or unable to reach consensus on. Opponents said the plan will lead to higher electric bills and lost jobs.
Because the 645-page rule, to be finalized in about a year, leaves much of the regulatory detail to the states, it’s not yet clear how it will affect each utility, or their customers. States must have a plan in place by mid-2016.
“The glue that holds this plan together, and the key to making it work, is that each state’s goal is tailored to its own circumstances, and states have the flexibility to reach their goal in whatever works best for them,” EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said in announcing the plan.
Northland impact
Duluth-based Minnesota Power says it stands ready and willing to meet the carbon reduction mandate - if the state rules allow for flexibility in how utilities comply.
“My hope would be that Minnesota develops a plan that doesn’t pick winners and losers. We need the flexibility to find solutions that work for our customers,” Dave McMillan, Minnesota Power executive vice president, told the News Tribune. Rather than mandating specific solar requirements, for example, McMillan said the state should let utilities figure out how to achieve the carbon limits.
By setting 2005 as the base year, McMillan said the EPA plan appears to take into account utilities that have worked over the past decade to reduce coal use and carbon in advance of any federal legislation.
“We like what we’ve seen so far, with allowing states flexibility and giving states that have taken the initiative some credit ... We like that a lot,” McMillan said, adding that it’s “very possible” Minnesota could impose some sort of penalty and reward, or cap-and-trade market, for carbon.
“We think we’re well-situated to adapt to that,” he said.
The utility, which was nearly 95 percent dependent on coal as recently as 2005, will reduce that figure to 75 percent by the end of this year, McMillan noted. The utility is moving to cut coal to 33 percent of generation by 2030, with another third from natural gas, and one-third from renewable sources like wind, solar and hydro. By the end of this year, 25 percent of the electricity the company provides customers will come from renewable sources, the utility notes, meeting Minnesota’s state requirement of 25 percent renewable by 2025 - a decade ahead of time.
McMillan said the utility may someday have to look at shuttering its small coal-fired generators, depending on the final plan, but that its largest coal stations, especially Boswell 3 and 4 in Cohasset, will have to remain part of its energy mix for at least several decades. The utility needs a “slice” of coal-fired generation to supply 24/7 industries like taconite plants and paper mills that can’t shut down simply because the sun doesn’t shine or wind stops blowing.
“We recognize that people have concerns about the impact of carbon on climate change and public health. We anticipated strong greenhouse gas rules and have taken early measures to transition our energy supply to a more diverse mix of sources,” said Al Rudeck, Minnesota Power vice president of strategy and planning.
The utility’s planned transition away from coal - called Energy Forward - is predicted to reduce CO2 emissions by 4 million tons annually by 2016 from 2005 levels. In addition, the utility’s energy conservation efforts have cut electrical demand by 6.2 percent, the equivalent of another 700,000 tons of CO2.
Reaction strong, for and against
Because the regulation requires states to submit their plans to the EPA, it’s not clear what will happen if Republican governors balk at the effort, as happened with the federal Affordable Care Act. The carbon rule allows the EPA to create and impose plans for states that refuse, but it is unclear how the federal government would force compliance. Some states already have promised to take legal action to stop the federal plan.
Opponents charge the Obama administration plan will reduce jobs and threaten America’s power supply with little if any environmental benefit. The pro-coal Heartland Institute called the plan “Obamacare for the environment” and predicted that “millions of Americans will be freezing in the dark.”
“Once again the Obama administration is putting its own global-warming ideology ahead of the interests of hardworking taxpayers. These proposed EPA rules will lead to higher energy bills for families, lost jobs, and diminished economic growth,” said Tim Phillips, president of the conservative group Americans For Prosperity, which has ties to the Koch brothers and fossil fuel industries.
Last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned the rules could cost consumers $289 billion more for electricity over the next 15 years, while reducing the gross domestic product by $50 billion a year.
But the Union of Concerned Scientists said similar plans in Massachusetts and California, hailed as models for other states to follow, have already cut carbon emissions 40 percent and could hit 50 percent by 2020. The group’s president, Ken Kimmel, said the EPA plan “signals to the world that the United States is serious about cutting dangerous heat-trapping carbon dioxide from its power plants.”
“With the flexibility to include renewable energy and energy efficiency in state plans to meet these new standards, the proposal presents a significant opportunity for states to make meaningful reductions in their emissions,” Kimmel said in a statement.
Despite the Northland’s frigid winter, global temperatures were at or near all-time highs during much of the season, according to NASA data. In addition to long-term higher temperatures, many experts say a warmer climate will lead to increased droughts, but also increased mega-storms that cause floods. Regional weather data already appear to be showing that more of our annual rainfall is coming in large storms rather than gentle rainfalls.
Michelle Rosier, campaign and organizing manager for the Sierra Club, said human-caused “climate disruption” has already cost Minnesota families more than $969 million in disasters in 2011 and 2012 alone.
The Sierra Club and other groups predict that a conversion away from coal to increased solar, wind and other renewable energy sources will actually lead to a net increase in jobs as the economy develops new technologies. A Natural Resources Defense Council analysis claims the carbon standards could create more than 274,000 jobs for electricians, carpenters and others, as well as delivering more than $50 billion in health and environmental benefits.
The EPA plan “not only protects our health and communities, but will also spur innovation and strengthen our economy. Minnesota has been on a path beyond coal to clean energy for a decade, and our state has demonstrated success in reducing carbon while growing a strong economy. These carbon protections are an opportunity to continue to grow our renewable energy economy,” Rosier said.
“We now look forward to working with Gov. Dayton and all Minnesotans to create a strong and just state implementation plan to protect all Minnesota families from harmful air pollution,” Rosier said. “We urge Gov. Dayton to be the leader we know he is for clean air and healthy children.”
