Washington — After a groundbreaking ruling in the Supreme Court last week limited the government’s ability to limit the pollution that is causing global warming, the Byden administration hopes to achieve similar goals. I am planning to use a regulatory tool.
An important part of the plan: further limit other pollutants emitted by coal-fired power plants, such as soot, mercury, and nitrogen phosphite. This also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
In a statement, White House climate change adviser Gina McCarthy said, “The courts upheld the special interests of trying to retreat the country, but the EPA regulates greenhouse gases and protects people from pollution. Did not deprive him of his abilities. ” Federal Environmental Protection Agency.
White House officials still fully meet the goal of President Biden cutting emissions by about half by the end of the last year and completely reducing fossil fuel emissions from the electricity sector by 2035. He said he believed it was possible. Lower costs for renewables such as wind and solar will help, along with new EPA regulations, as well as an increase in the number of policies at state and level to combat climate change, officials said.
Still, the still-formed fragmented approach of the federal government can make it more difficult to reach that goal, many observers said. Fossil fuel-burning power plants are one of the largest contributors to carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which is rapidly warming the planet.
According to energy experts, the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling, which concluded that the EPA lacks broad authority to keep the country’s electrical systems away from fossil fuels, has lost a powerful tool to the Biden administration. The ruling did not deprive the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, but only allowed narrower policies to regulate how individual power plants operate.
Experts say that government backup strategies are unlikely to spur a rapid transformation into clean energy unless the government acts swiftly and proactively. John Larsen, a partner of the Rhodium Group, said: Energy research and consulting company.
Mr. Larsen said the Biden administration must establish a new policy “layer and layer” rather than relying on a single radical program. “To actually spin those wheels, you need to act right away,” he added.
In this week’s interview, President Biden’s EPA aviation director candidate Joseph Goffman said the EPA will issue a draft regulation early next year to curb greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. Said. At the same time, he said, the EPA will issue draft regulations to reduce emissions from new gas-burning power plants.
Goffman refused to discuss the details of which plans might be included, but the EPA has put together a menu of three or four different approaches that fit the Supreme Court’s mission. “.
Goffman said the EPA is still analyzing the Supreme Court’s ruling, but it does not seem to affect the authorities’ current strategy. “This incident didn’t really remove anything from the menu we’ve been focusing on,” he said.
Goffman said the government’s climate goals could be achieved, but more action would be taken not only by the EPA, but by the government as a whole.
The EPA has also set stricter restrictions on coal-fired power plants to reduce pollutants such as soot and nitrogen phosphite and to force the purification of water pollution from coal-fired power plants. Michael S. Regan, EPA’s administrator, states that these and other regulations have the secondary benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well. He also said that changes to these rules could make some coal-fired power plants too expensive to continue operations, resulting in the closure of more coal-fired power plants. I showed that.
“By presenting all these rules to the industry at the same time, the industry has the opportunity to review this set of rules at once and say,’Is it worth doubling the investment in this current facility?’ You can get it. Or should we look at the costs and say it’s time to pivot and invest in the future of clean energy? “Mr. Regan said at the oil and gas conference in March.
“If you decide that some of these facilities aren’t worth the investment and get a quick retirement, it’s the best tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
Coal provides about 21 percent of electricity In the United States, but Half of carbon dioxide emissions from power generation, Making it one of the dirtiest fossil fuels. According to the Energy Information Agency, about 28% of coal-fired power generation capacity is expected to be abolished by 2035. Changes driven primarily by the fact that operating costs for gas-burning power plants have fallen, as well as renewables.
For those familiar with the Biden administration’s approach, the White House will be at the 2005 level by the end of the last decade by tightening regulations on traditional pollutants such as mercury, acid gas and particulate matter. He said he believes he can achieve an overall economy emission reduction of as much as 40%. It will bring the country closer to Mr Biden’s goal of reducing emissions by at least 50 percent from 2005 levels in the same time frame, said those not allowed to speak publicly about the government’s strategy.
Understand the latest news about climate change
Environmental activists said they were uncertain about the Biden administration’s commitment.
“What we are seeing now is that the Biden administration is not acting with the urgency it needs,” said a spokesman for the Black Life Movement, a coalition of black-led social justice and environmental groups. One Weston Gober said. He urges Mr. Biden to declare a “climate emergency” under the National Emergency Act to quickly build clean energy resources and urge Congress to suspend filibuster and pass a climate bill. I asked.
He praised the new EPA strategy, noting that the majority of pollution from power plants affects the color community disproportionately. But he said, “That’s not enough.”
On the other hand, when it comes to directly regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, some experts say the EPA will blend relatively clean fuels such as gas and hydrogen to reduce emissions. Said that it may require. Power plant before emissions enter the atmosphere.
Michelle Bloodworth, CEO of the coal industry group America’s Power, said the aggressive agenda to promote the retirement of coal-fired power plants would undermine the reliability of the power grid.
“Power grid authorities have warned many parts of the country about potential power shortages and power outages, and the situation will be exacerbated by more coal retirement,” Bradworth said in a statement. rice field. She said more than 40 percent of the country’s coal fleet has already announced plans to close it.
However, eliminating emissions from these power plants, or moving them to cleaner fuels, is also important to keep global temperature rise at relatively safe levels. Also important is how the EPA is proposing to regulate emissions from new gas-burning plants in excess of 90 gigawatts planned. Leah Stokes, a professor of environmental policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said.
“It will be very important to the planet,” Stokes said. “Without plans for a new gas plant, President Biden’s goals cannot be achieved.”
Jeffrey Holmstead, an energy lawyer who worked for the EPA in both Bush administrations, said the utility company he works with is a $ tax credit for the storage of billions of wind, solar and battery in Congress. .. The package is still under negotiation in Congress due to opposition from West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. Senator votes are evenly divided in the Senate.
“It would be interesting to see how aggressive the government is working to regulate CO2 emissions,” Holmstead said. “The uncertainties are how high the agency’s priority is.”
Scientists say that if global warming exceeds pre-industrial levels at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the catastrophic consequences of climate change (heat waves, worsening droughts, intensifying storms, and other crises) are significant. It says that it will increase to. The Earth has already risen by an average of about 1.1 degrees Celsius, and global emissions continue to grow.