NPR. (May 11th, 2023). An EPA proposal to (almost) eliminate climate pollution from power plants. Retrieved August 20th, 2023, from https://www.npr.org/2023/05/11/1169967646/an-epa-proposal-to-almost-eliminate-climate-pollution-from-power-plants
For big coal and gas-powered plants, they would need to capture 90% of emissions or burn clean hydrogen. Plants scheduled to shut down soon will face less stringent limits. The EPA’s(Environmental Protection Agency) rules will withstand legal scrutiny, compared to Obama’s rules which did not. The EPA is going to set emission limits for individual plants, which will be stricter than Obamas. The industry is not happy with these rules made by the EPA. Behind transportation, power plants are the second biggest source of climate-warming emissions. Critics argue that the regulations will force plants to shut down and leave their grids vulnerable to blackouts.
It seems like there is so much to do and so many places spread out over the world to do these investments. With these new, stricter, rules in act maybe we will be able to get great progress towards a clean and happy environment. The article didn’t explain these emission limits for individual plants, so I wonder what they could be. The proposal made by the EPA does seem very good and very trusting. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
I agree, this is a very good step for the environment because plant restrictions are definitely crucial to fix emissions. I also wonder what exactly the restrictions are to see how much they would actually benefit the environment. Would it be possible to deplete coal and gas power plants (do we have different alternatives)?
Thank you so much for your agreement and feedback. I don’t believe we are ready as of new technology to deplete all coal and gas plants, but we can definitely cut down a lot more and switch them to alternatives. Yes we do have different alternatives, although they may not be preferable to certain people or “work as good” as the coal and gas plants.