EPA proposes first limits on new power plants

Sweet. Say hello to rotting infrastructure. If new plants are going to be this hindered compared to old plants, old plants become way more valuable. I wonder how many Senators have been stocking up on utilities?

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration forged ahead on Tuesday with the first-ever limits on heat-trapping pollution from new power plants, ignoring protests from industry and from Republicans who have said the regulation will raise electricity prices and kill off coal, the dominant U.S. energy source.

But the proposal also fell short of environmentalists’ hopes because it goes easier than it could have on coal-fired power – one of the largest sources of the gases blamed for global warming.

“Right now, there are no limits to the amount of carbon pollution that future power plants will be able to put into our skies — and the health and economic threats of a changing climate continue to grow,” said Lisa Jackson, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Older coal-fired power plants have already been shutting down across the country, thanks to low natural gas prices, demand from China driving up coal’s price and weaker demand for electricity.

Regulations from the EPA to control pollution blowing downwind and toxic emissions from power plants have also helped push some into retirement, causing Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail to claim the agency will cause blackouts. Numerous studies and an AP survey of power plant operators have shown that is not the case.

The proposed rule will not apply to existing power plants or new ones built in the next year. It will also give future coal-fired power plants years to meet the standard, because it will eventually require that carbon pollution be captured and stored underground, or injected to extract more oil and natural gas. Such carbon capture technology is not yet commercially available.

By contrast, a new natural gas-fired power plant would meet the new standard without installing additional controls.

“There are areas where they could have made it a lot worse,” said Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a coalition of power companies. Still, “the numerical limit allows progress for natural gas and places compliance out of reach for coal-fired plants” not planning to capture and sequester carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas.