Proposed Rule Would Allow 12 Times More Carbon Emissions Over the Next Decade Compared to the Clean Power Plan
Washington (October 9, 2018) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) led 22 fellow Senate Democrats today in urging Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to increase opportunities for public input for the proposed replacement to the Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s signature policy to combat climate change. Yesterday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which would require reducing emissions 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 globally and getting 70-85% of electricity from renewables by mid-century.
The proposed replacement plan published August 31, called the “Affordable Clean Energy” (ACE) rule, provides no limit on energy sector emissions, gives states more authority to regulate carbon pollution, and could exempt coal plants from improving pollution controls. These proposed changes carry significant environmental and human health risks, and warrant extensive public review. Yet the EPA has only provided a 61-day comment period and only scheduled one public hearing, which was held in Chicago on October 1. The Clean Power Plan proposal, by contrast, was followed by a 167-day public comment period and four public hearings.
“Our constituents should be given an equal opportunity to evaluate and weigh in on a proposed replacement,” the senators write. “These opportunities for public input are woefully inadequate given the serious legal, environmental, and human health concerns raised by the proposed rule.”
In the letter, the senators called for the EPA to extend the comment period by at least 60 additional days, through December 31, and to hold at least three additional public hearings, including in areas most vulnerable to climate change impacts.
“The Clean Power Plan was approved in 2015 to address the overwhelming scientific consensus that humans are the dominant cause of climate change and provide a path forward to reducing such impacts,” the senators continued. “While the Clean Power Plan provided a concrete—and realistic—goal of achieving a 32 percent reduction in energy sector emissions by 2030, the ACE rule provides no such limit and thus hinders the ability of the EPA to regulate carbon emissions—a violation of the Clean Air Act. Numerous other complex legal issues with the proposed rule will take additional time to be carefully reviewed.”
Compared to the Clean Power Plan, under the ACE rule increased emissions of pollutants such as mercury would cause an additional 1,400 premature deaths, 140,000 school absences, and 120,000 cases of exacerbated asthma annually by 2030. “Given these extremely harmful potential consequences, the public needs additional time to assess EPA’s modeling methodology for determining the health and environmental impacts of the proposed rule,” said the senators.
A copy of the senators’ letter to Acting Administrator Wheeler can be found HERE.
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