Following today’s EPA proposal of the first-ever national carbon pollution standards for new power plants, a coalition of environmental and progressive groups, supporting strong clean air standards, pledged their support for this important action.
“We are quite pleased that today the President has taken the necessary steps to confront the greatest challenge of our lifetime: climate change,” said Elisabeth MacNamara, President of LWV.
The progress we have made in the fight against climate change this year following the President’s announcement of a comprehensive carbon control plan is now being threatened in the Senate. Today S. 1392, an energy efficiency bill, was brought to the floor and a last minute push to add amendments that would undermine that progress is being made.
Power plants are the largest source of dangerous carbon pollution in the United States and carbon pollution is the leading cause of climate change. Despite this, there are currently no federal limits on the carbon pollution power plants can release. But finally, the Obama Administration has promised to issue regulations controlling carbon pollution from new and existing power plants within the next two years.
The action steps President Obama announced in his speech this week are a turning point in the fight against climate change. After months of calling on the President to move forward with life-saving measures to protect our children, our nation and the world from the damaging effects of climate change, I was proud to stand by while he announced his plan to cut carbon pollution.
For Immediate Release
President Obama Outlines Plan to Cut Carbon Pollution from
Power Plants and Address Climate Change
Leaders Applaud President for “backing up his strong words with strong action.”
“Today is a turning point in the fight against climate change," Elisabeth MacNamara said of today's speech by President Obama.
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a regulation to curb industrial carbon pollution from new power plants. The regulation would help reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases that cause climate change and endanger the health of millions of Americans.
The League joined other environmental organizations on a letter sent to U.S. Senators encouraging them to support the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) funding at levels needed for the agency to carry out its core missions. The EPA implements and enforces environmental statutes like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water act and repeated budget cuts over the last several years have begun to compromise the EPA's ability to enforce these laws and protect Americans.
“We were disappointed that the President failed to mention climate change as one of the causes of extreme weather," said President MacNamara.
