Coral Davenport writes President Said to Be Planning to Use Executive Authority on Carbon Rule, in what appears to be a remarkable bold initiative to make substantial reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.
WASHINGTON — President Obama will use his executive authority to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s coal-fired power plants by up to 20 percent, according to people familiar with his plans, and will force industry to pay for the pollution it creates through cap-and-trade programs across the country.
Mr. Obama will unveil his plans in a new regulation, written by the Environmental Protection Agency, at the White House on Monday. It would be the strongest action ever taken by an American president to tackle climate change and could become one of the defining elements of Mr. Obama’s legacy.
Cutting carbon emissions by 20 percent — a substantial amount — would be the most important step in the administration’s pledged goal to reduce pollution over the next six years and could eventually shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants across the country. The regulation would have far more impact on the environment than the Keystone pipeline, which many administration officials consider a political sideshow, and is certain to be met with opposition from Republicans who say that Mr. Obama will be using his executive authority as a back door to force through an inflammatory cap-and-trade policy he could not get through Congress.
Such an announcement should have major implications for international negotiations over the global treaty to reduce carbon emissions. The United States' refusal to go along with his treaty has so far been a major stumbling block, which has given China cover to claim developed countries should go first to allow developing countries time to catch up economically.
The United States and China are the worlds two countries with the highest amounts of CO2 emissions.
This will be tremendously good news if it turns out to be true and we can overcome the strenuous opposition we can expect from the fossil fuel industry and Republicans.