Trump EPA finalizes rollback of key Obama climate rule that targeted coal plants

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/trump-epa-finalizes-rollback-of-key-obama-climate-rule-that-targeted-coal-plants/2019/06/19/b8ff1702-8eeb-11e9-8f69-a2795fca3343_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d65c145c52ee

By Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis
June 19 at 11:36 AM

The Trump administration finalized its biggest climate policy rollback Wednesday, requiring the U.S. power sector to cut its 2030 carbon emissions 35 percent over 2005 levels — less than half of what experts calculate is needed to avert catastrophic warming of the planet.

The Affordable Clean Energy rule, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, demands much smaller carbon dioxide reductions than the industry is already on track to achieve, even without federal regulation. As of last year, the U.S. power sector had cut its greenhouse gas emissions 27 percent compared with 2005.

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Several of the industry’s biggest players have pledged to cut emissions from 40 percent to 60 percent by 2030, including American Electric Power, DTE, Duke Energy and Southern Co.

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The U.S. electricity sector needs to cut its emissions 74 percent over 2005 levels by 2030 to avoid hitting the 2-degree mark, according to the International Energy Agency. Overall, the country must slash greenhouse gas emissions 48 percent by 2030, according to the IEA’s Brent Wanner, with the deepest cuts coming from the power sector because cheap alternatives to coal are readily available.

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