Image: Flickr
Advertisement
Advertisement
TIME's Bryan Walsh says that this is "the most important part" of Obama's climate plan. It's "a Presidential memorandum that will direct [the EPA] to establish carbon pollution standards for new and existing power plants, under the authority of the Clean Air Act."Obama himself pointed out in his speech that "Today, about 30% of our carbon pollution comes from our power plants." They're the single biggest source of emissions in the US, and much of that comes from decades-old power plants that are especially pollution-rich. The proposed rules could kill them off altogether. There are casualties in war, after all."Power plants can still dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air for free. That's not right, it's not safe, and it needs to stop."—President Obama
Advertisement
Instead, he used sly language—he implored us to help developing countries to "avoid repeating the same mistakes we made." As in, let's switch straight to solar and wind and leave coal behind. And one of the biggest initiatives in his new plan that isn't getting attention is a rule that will effectively halt the public funding of international coal plants.So yes: This really is a war on coal, even if Obama is watching his words—justifiably so, given the politics—but his actions speak louder. Coal stocks plunged when word got out that Obama would aim to regulate dirty power plants. If the adminsitration follows through, that decline will merely be the beginning.”Cleaner natural gas instead of … dirtier fuel sources.” Coal. Say it. Coal!
— David Roberts (@drgrist) June 25, 2013