U.S President, Barack Obama, will unveil the final version of his plan to tackle greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants.
The U.S President would on Monday, unveil what he had called “the biggest, most important step the US has ever taken” in tackling climate change.
The aim of the revised clean power plan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from US power stations by nearly a third within 15 years.
The measures would place significant emphasis on wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources.
However, opponents in the energy industry had vowed to fight the plan.
They said that President Obama had declared “a war on coal”. Power plants fired by coal provide more than a third of the US electricity supply.
The revised plan aims to cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 32 per cent by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
The regulation would also encourage an aggressive shift toward renewable energy away from coal-fired electricity, pushing utilities to invest even more heavily in wind and solar energy.
Industry groups and some lawmakers from states that have relied on coal-based energy had vowed to challenge the new requirements in the courts and through Congressional maneuvers, accusing the administration of a regulatory assault that would drive up energy prices.
The National Mining Association said on Sunday that it would seek to block the plan in federal court. “These (requirements) would burden Americans with increasingly high-costs for an essential service and a less reliable electric grid for delivering it,” said Hal Quinn, President of the NMA.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which represents co-ops that deliver energy to poor rural communities, said the Clean Power Plan would raise electricity prices by at least 10 per cent, a rise that would be disproportionately felt by “the country’s most vulnerable populations.”
