Lance Moore
GHG Monitor
7/17/2015
States that opt out of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emission standards for coal-fired power plants would be hurting business and negating the opportunity to create their own specific compliance plans, as the EPA would have to submit a generic, less-effective plan as a replacement, said high-ranking executives of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) and Environmental Entrepreneurs in an open letter to the National Governors Association last week. The proposed regulation, dubbed the Clean Power Plan, sets state emissions reduction targets and requires states to develop action plans to meet these targets. The ASBC letter is a response to recent calls to governors from congressional Republicans, most notably Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), for states to submit implementation plans on the basis of the rule’s questionable legality, and that it would allegedly lock states into federal enforcement, therefore leaving state governments exposed to lawsuits.
“By submitting an implementation plan, governors are protecting states’ rights by tailoring a plan to their own state’s needs and opportunities,” the letter states, “With the flexibility granted by the Clean Power Plan, states can comply through whichever options work best for their particular situation, including energy efficiency and clean energy industries that are proven to grow jobs. For example, since 2011, nearly 233,000 clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced at more than 700 projects across the country according to Environmental Entrepreneurs’ Clean Energy Works for US reports. Through well-drafted state plans, states can grow more of these jobs.” The letter adds that the U.S. increased energy investment by over $386 billion from 2007-2014, illustrating that it is imperative for states to submit their own implementation plans in order to attract economic investment and support policies that would ultimately take states further down the road of clean energy innovation.
