States Sue the EPA Over Clean Power Plan, Disprove Their Own Argument with Existing Efforts to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Renewable Energy (Other Energy Resources) / Climate Change

Date posted: 06/06/15

Jeff Deyette reports that the near-term timeline and trajectory for states to make cuts in power plant emissions under the EPA proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) is achievable, according to a new UCS analysis released today. In fact, a majority of states (31) have already made key clean energy decisions that will get them most or all of the way to meeting the CPP near-term (and non-binding) 2020 benchmarks. Ironically, this list includes nearly all of the 14 states that are now suing the EPA to stop the CPP. Despite their negative rhetoric, these states are disproving their own case and successfully taking action to reduce their power plant carbon emissions. How are they doing it? Well, in 12 of the 14 states suing the EPA, power plant owners have already retired or plan to retire 135 uneconomic coal units between 2012 and 2020, accounting for nearly 25,000 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity. These decisions are part of a broader transition well underway in the U.S. power sector, in which many of the oldest, dirtiest, and least efficient coal units are being retired in favor of lower-carbon and more cost-effective energy options like renewable energy, energy efficiency, and natural gas. Notice that Deyette does not mention nuclear power...It contributes about 65% of all low-carbon electricity in the U.S. Collectively, the coal retirements in Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming will reduce annual carbon emissions by an estimated 42 to 69 million metric tons, depending on whether their generation is replaced with natural gas or zero-carbon resources such as renewables and efficiency (our analysis conservatively assumes natural gas). Is the latter low-carbon? Also notice that Deyette does not mention the likely cost increases that will come using expensive renewables and natural gas to replace coal.