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President Barack Obama will unveil on Monday the final version of his
plan to tackle greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants as he aims to
cement his legacy on climate change, a senior administration official said.
The revised Clean Power Plan will seek to slash carbon emissions from
the power sector 32 percent from 2005 levels in 2030, a 9 percent increase over
a previous proposal.
The regulation will usher in a sweeping transformation of the U.S.
electricity sector, encouraging an aggressive shift toward more renewable
energy away from coal-fired electricity.
Industry groups and some lawmakers from states that have relied on
coal-based energy have said they will challenge it in the courts and through
Congressional maneuvers, accusing the administration of a regulatory assault
that will drive up energy prices.
The White House was defiant, and said the release of the plan was
"the starting gun for an all-out climate push" by the president and
his cabinet.
"My administration will release the final version of America's
Clean Power Plan, the biggest, most important step we have ever taken to combat
climate change," Obama said in a video posted by the White House Sunday at
midnight.
He said there have been no federal limits to date on carbon pollution
from power plants, the biggest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan will be central to the United States' contribution to a United
Nations agreement to tackle climate change, in which the Obama administration
has vowed to play a leadership role.
Each state will be required to submit a plan to the Environmental
Protection Agency next year, spelling out how it will meet an emission-cutting
goal assigned to it.
Five governors who have opposed the rule have already said they will not
comply.
"CUTTING BILLS"
The final version will accelerate the deployment of renewable energy
based on updated projections that the share of renewable energy generation
capacity in 2030 will be higher at 28 percent, compared to 22 percent in last
June's version.
The Obama administration also changed its projection about the share of
natural gas in the U.S. power mix in 2020, avoiding what it said would be an
"early rush to gas" away from coal.
"Instead, the rule drives early reductions from renewable energy
and energy efficiency, which will drive a more aggressive transformation in the
domestic energy industry," according to a senior administration
official.
The revised rule contains two new measures the administration said will
"cut energy bills for low-income families" and drive down renewable
energy technology costs, pre-empting arguments by opponents that plan will be
too costly.
It will create a Clean Energy Incentive Program to reward states that
take early action to deploy renewable energy project before the regulation
kicks in 2022.
It will also reward states that invest in energy-efficiency projects in
low-income communities in 2020 and 2021.
(Editing by William Hardy)
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