RFF researchers on the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants
Today, the Obama administration proposed a new rule to reduce emissions from existing power plants, using EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy commented: “The glue that holds this plan together, and the key to making it work, is that each state’s goal is tailored to its own circumstances, and states have the flexibility to reach their goal in whatever way works best for them.” (Note that there is still time to register for RFF’s special event on June 5, where experts will discuss the challenges and opportunities of this approach.)
RFF experts on greenhouse gas emissions and Clean Air Act regulatory issues have examined various flexible approaches that the states might take to reduce emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act. Below are some highlights.
On cost-effectiveness:
- Dallas Burtraw, Joshua Linn, Karen Palmer, and Anthony Paul find that “approaches likely to be taken by EPA in regulating carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants will result in minimal price increases for consumers.”
- Nathan Richardson writes: “Trading programs are (at least in many senses) the ‘best’ system for low-cost emissions reductions.”
On state implementation:
- Nathan Richardson notes that “allowing states to choose unique policy paths is sensitive to local conditions and creates a policy laboratory” where “states aren’t just responsible for enforcing federal rules or meeting federal targets, but are the primary regulators, with control over the program’s structure and stringency.”
- Dallas Burtraw says: “I don’t think we will end up in a world where there are 50 different approaches ineach of the states. For one reason, many states do not have the resources to really give form to an approach that has not already been thought through by their neighbors. There’s going to be leading states and maybe some states that will follow.”
On international targets:
- Dallas Burtraw and Matt Woerman find that EPA’s proposed emissions reductions “could be expected to take the United States past 15 percentage points of the 17 percentage-point reduction from 2005 levels that President Obama pledged in Copenhagen in 2009.”
For more work by RFF researchers on these topics, visit www.rff.org/cleanairact.
