June 18, 2014
www.gfb.org
Vol. 32 No. 24
EPA RELEASES PROPOSED GHG RULE FOR POWER PLANTS The EPA released its “Clean Power Plan” proposed rule on June 2 in a move designed to set goals for the reduction of carbon emissions from existing power plants. Under the rule, the nation’s power plants would have to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The goals vary by state. According to EPA documents, power plants in Georgia emitted 1,500 pounds of carbon per megawatt hour in 2012. The EPA set a goal of cutting the emissions to 834 pounds per megawatt hour or 44 percent by 2030. Under the rule, states would have until 2016 to submit their plans for reducing carbon emissions. Georgia’s carbon emission in the 2012 numbers cited by the EPA were less than 24 other states. Only one of those, Arkansas, has an equal percentage reduction goal as Georgia under the proposed rule. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the EPA’s proposed rules about greenhouse gas emissions from power plants are part of a regulatory agenda that threatens to be among the most costly ever imposed on the U.S. economy. AFBF maintains that regulation of power plant emissions will likely expand to nearly every segment of the economy. “The greenhouse gas proposal is yet another expensive and expansive overreach by EPA into the daily lives of America’s farmers and ranchers,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “Our farmers and ranchers need a climate that fosters innovation, not unilateral regulations that cap our future.” The EPA has requested funding in its 2015 budget request for analysis to determine whether regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from other (non-power plant) sources is warranted, indicating specifically that the analyses would include animal feeding operations. The EPA proposed a companion rule earlier this year for new power plants coming online. Georgia Farm Bureau voiced opposition to that rule, maintaining that it would result in diminished supply of electricity, increased consumer costs and reduced profitability for farm operations. While the first proposed rule would prohibit the construction of new coal-fired plants without expensive carbon capture and sequestration equipment, the new rule would apply to plants already supplying electricity to the American public. Once the rule is published in the Federal Register, the public will have 120 days to submit comments. The EPA is already accepting comments through its website. To submit a comment there, visit http://tinyurl.com/epaghgrule. The agency has also scheduled a series of four public hearings on the proposed rule, one of which is in Atlanta on July 29 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.