Lance Moore
GHG Monitor
7/10/2015
Through the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, the United States is seeking to facilitate leadership and credibility in upcoming international negotiations to create a global climate policy, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said this week. The proposed regulation, due to be finalized in August, requires states to develop action plans to meet federally set carbon emission reduction goals. Once finalized, this regulation is expected to account for a large portion of the emissions reductions the United States has committed to in their Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in December. “Under the big radar screen of these international agreements on a variety of climate and reduction initiatives, there is a continuation of all the work we are doing bilaterally and multilaterally, both on a national and global level, to internalize the challenges that come with create effective policy to reduce carbon emissions,” McCarthy said at an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
The road to securing a leadership position on the international stage at COP 21, as well as staying synced with the President’s Climate Action Plan, is contingent on the EPA implementing the Clean Power Plan, McCarthy said. However, the rule has been met with opposition from some stakeholders, and its finalization is expected to result in a lengthy litigation. “We can expect a certain amount of opposition from states unless we can finalize a carbon pollution reduction plan that is generated through best business practice at the state level,” McCarthy said.
In an effort to ensure that the Clean Power Plan is workable for states, EPA has done significant outreach. This outreach, the agency hopes, will serve the purpose of showing the international community the Unites States’ legitimacy in creating a legal framework nationwide to address carbon pollution. The inclusion and successful implementation of clear, fair and ambitious targets for carbon reduction through the CPP, while also setting concise parameters of accountability, will essentially provide the U.S an opportunity to bring a powerful voice to Paris, McCarthy said.
