Photo: Kusa Dogwood, Lois Barber
November 2013 - The EPA has issued draft standards to limit carbon pollution from new coal and natural gas power plants. This proposal, if adopted, will begin to rein in our currently uncontrolled carbon pollution from power plants, that equals approximately one-third of US climate changing CO2 emissions.
The new standards for gas fired electricity plants are easily met, because gas burns fairly efficiently. However, coal plants currently emit so much more CO2, that the new coal standards, even though they are less strict than those for gas, cannot be met without capturing the CO2 and pumping it underground. Critics balk at this requirement. But pumping CO2 underground has been done for decades to increase oil recovery.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced that this initial step of setting CO2 standards for new power plants will be followed by proposals for existing power plants in June 2014.
Climate change deniers, coal industry supporters and Tea Party Republicans want to stop these new regulations in their tracks. Now is the time to raise our voices and show the widespread public support for reasonable limits that enforce the law of the Clean Air Act. Our nation’s health and the future of the world’s climate depend on moving rapidly to control C02 emissions.
Submit your comment to the EPA in support of their “Proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for New Power Plants” ASAP- before Dec. 1. Include the docket number (below) in the subject line of your email or in the address on an envelope. Raise your voice for our future health and the health of the planet.
CONTACT: EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
E-mail: [email protected]
Put Docket ID in subject line of email: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0495
Fax: 202-566-9744
Mail: (must arrive by Dec. 1)
Air and Radiation Docket Information Center
Environmental Protection Agency
Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0495
Mail Code 2822T
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20460
(include 2 copies of your letter)
Photo credit: Red-shouldered Hawk, Ron Wolf
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