 |
|
US President Barack Obama
will Monday unveil what he called the "biggest, most important step we've
ever taken" to fight climate change, a sensitive issue central to his
legacy ©Saul Loeb (AFP)
|
US President Barack Obama will Monday unveil what he called
the "biggest, most important step we've ever taken" to fight climate
change, a sensitive issue central to his legacy. The White House will
release the final version of America's Clean Power Plan, a set of environmental
rules and regulations that will home in on the pollution from the nation's
existing power plants, setting limits on power-plant carbon emissions for the
first time. Plants will have to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
AFP report continues:
Laying out how climate
change is a threat to the economy, health, wellbeing and security of America, and
adding that time was of the essence, Obama said in a video released early
Sunday: "Climate change is not a problem for another generation. Not any
more."
"Power plants are
the single biggest source of harmful carbon pollution that contributes to
climate change," added Obama, who made the battle against climate change a
core promise of his 2008 election campaign.
"But until now,
there have been no federal limits to the amount of that pollution that those
plants can dump into the air."
He added that without
imposing the unprecedented limits, "existing power plants can still dump
unlimited amounts of harmful carbon pollution into the air weekly.
"For the sake of our
kids, for the health and safety of all Americans, that's about to change."
Power plants account for
some 40 percent of US emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse
gas that contributes to climate change.
In the coming months,
Obama is expected to visit Alaska to highlight the impact of climate change and
will host Pope Francis at the White House when they are expected to make a
collective call for action.
With the end of his
presidency drawing ever nearer, Obama argued that the plans will lead to lower
energy bills in the future for everyday Americans, create jobs in the renewable
energy sector and ensure more reliable energy services.
Quite simply, he said,
the United States and the rest of the world need to act now to save the planet,
ahead of a major meeting of world powers in Paris in December tasked with doing
just that.
- Politically sensitive -
In its initial proposal a
year ago, the Obama administration had set the target at 30 percent power plant
reductions
The tough 32-percent
collective reduction drew fierce opposition from the Republican Party, which
described the measures as "overreach," "heavy-handed" and
said they would have "devastating consequences for our economy."
Gina McCarthy, head of
the Environmental Protection Agency, insisted the rules were
"reasonable" and "achievable."
"They can cut carbon
pollution in whatever way makes the most sense to them," he said. "No
plant has to meet them alone or all at once, they have to meet them as part of
the grid and over time."
Climate change is a
hot-button issue in American politics, and cuts are politically sensitive
because coal, among the dirtiest energy sources, remains a major US industry.
Even as natural gas gains
in popularity, hundreds of coal-fired power plants dotted across the country
provide about 37 percent of the US electricity supply, ahead of natural gas and
nuclear energy.
In the video, Obama said
that global warming and the reasons behind it were backed up by scientific data
-- some Republican opponents dispute the existence of global warming and others
cast doubt on whether humans are to blame for the phenomenon.
Hillary Clinton, the
Democrat hoping to take over from Obama after the 2016 election welcomed the
announcement as a "significant step forward."
No comments:
Post a Comment