For Immediate Release
June 2, 2014
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
Federal Carbon Rules Mark Crucial Step Forward on Climate in the Chesapeake Region, But Must Be Strengthened
To work for people and the climate, state-level goals must be met with truly carbon-free wind and solar power, not harmful fracked gas
WASHINGTON, DC — Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, had the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s unveiling of long-awaited federal regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants:
“In the face of the record heat, storms and flooding already harming families across our region, CCAN welcomes these rules as a long overdue, necessary step forward. For the first time, the federal government is proposing mandatory reductions in carbon emissions from power plants. CCAN and our regional clean energy partners have been advocating for state and national caps on power plant pollution for the past decade, and we have been cautioning utilities throughout the region that this day would come. With this step, investments in new coal-fired power plants will be essentially over in the U.S.
“All the same, these regulations must be strengthened. Given the abundant availability and affordability of clean energy and energy efficiency solutions, and the rapidly escalating climate crisis, we can and must go further and faster in reducing pollution.
“Particularly troubling, the draft proposal leaves the door open for a significant possible expansion of reliance on fracked gas as a substitute for coal. In reality, this is no solution at all. Recent and accumulating studies show fracked gas production, use, and possible export are likely worse than coal for the climate over the next several decades. We have to make sure that leaders in Maryland and Virginia respond to the carbon rules with investments in greater energy efficiency and truly carbon-free wind and solar development.”
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