Among the actions President Obama is taking to address climate change, none is more controversial than his move to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s fossil-fuel-powered electricity-generating plants. Few options are available for US utilities to substantially reduce the CO2 that spews from existing coal plants, by far the nation’s largest power source.
In a 25 June memorandum, Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency to formulate a CO2 reduction standard for existing fossil-fuel plants, although he set no overall reduction target. The EPA was instructed to prepare a draft standard by 1 June 2014 and a final standard one year later. States would be required to submit implementation plans by mid 2016.
In early July the Department of Energy released a draft solicitation for proposals for projects aimed at developing new technologies to avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. The agency will provide...
