The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 11 proposed new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, a move seeking to reduce pollutants and protect public health.
The proposal could force power plants to capture smokestack emissions using a technology that has long been promised but is not used widely in the United States.
If finalized, it would mark the first time that the federal government has regulated carbon emissions from existing power plants, which contribute about 25% of the country’s greenhouse gas pollution, second only to the transportation sector.
The new standards would apply to future electric plants and would avoid up to 617 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through 2042, equivalent to cutting annual emissions of 137 million passenger vehicles, the EPA said.
Almost all coal plants — along with large, frequently used gas-fired plants — would have to cut or capture nearly all their carbon dioxide emissions by 2038, the EPA said. Plants that cannot meet the new standards would be forced to retire.
