Duke Energy’s Asheville-area coal-fired power plant
From the Wall Street Journal, Sept. 16, 2014
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration said Tuesday it is allowing more time for the public to weigh in on draft regulations controlling carbon emissions from hundreds of fossil-fuel power plants across the country after a majority of senators called for the extension.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it was extending by 45 days its public-comment period that was originally scheduled to end Oct. 16.
In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy last week, 53 senators, including several Democrats up for re-election this year, urged the administration to allow 60 more days; the comment period was originally 120 days. The new closing date is Dec. 1.
Announced on June 2, the proposed rule seeks to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s power plants 30% by 2030 based on emissions levels from 2005. EPA has set different standards for each state, based upon regional energy mixes and what the agency has deemed each state can do to shift to cleaner sources of electricity.
The agency is still scheduled to issue a final rule by its original deadline of June 2015, EPA Acting Administrator for Air and Radiation Janet McCabe said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “Because of the strong amount of interest we’ve seen from stakeholders, we are announcing today that we are extending the comment period for an additional 45 days,” Ms. McCabe said.
The regulations are the cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s climate-change agenda and affect most detrimentally coal-fired power plants, which produce the most carbon emissions and provide about 40% of the nation’s electricity today.
EPA’s announcement Tuesday comes a week before Mr. Obama travels to New York City to participate in a United Nations summit where he is expected to lay out his administration’s climate-change agenda to world leaders.
![[Charlotte Sierra Club]](http://wnca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/epa-carbon-40-300x300.jpg)
[Charlotte Sierra Club]
ASHEVILLE—On June 2, President Obama and the EPA announced the first-ever carbon pollution limits on all existing power plants. It’s the most important climate action of his presidency, because power plants are America’s single largest source of extreme-weather intensifying, public-health threatening carbon pollution.
The EPA has scheduled four public hearings across the country—in Pittsburgh, Denver, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta—to give people the opportunity to give oral testimony on the new carbon standards.
On July 29, concerned citizens from Western North Carolina will travel to Atlanta to give formal comments supporting the EPA’s proposed carbon pollution limits at the hearing in the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center.
A busload of area activists will leave Asheville at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday from Earth Fare in the Westgate Shopping Center. A press conference, rally and a march will be held in Atlanta outside the hearings. The bus will return to Asheville by midnight.
“We need to tell the EPA that limiting carbon from power plants is the fastest way to tackle climate disruption,” said Anna Jane Joyner, campaign coordinator with Western North Carolina Alliance. “The coal-fired power plant in Asheville is the largest single contributor to climate disruption in our mountains, releasing carbon dioxide into the air every year equivalent to 500,000 cars on the road. This is not just an environmental problem, it’s a public health issue and it’s an economic issue.”
The EPA says it anticipates hearing oral comments from about 1,600 people.
Anyone interested in getting a seat on the bus from Asheville to Atlanta should go to:
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/bus-to-the-epa-carbon-protections-hearing-tickets-12239930963.
The cost is $10, plus a small processing fee.
People also can comment on the EPA’s proposal online or by email, fax or letter. EPA says it considers all comments equally, no matter how they are submitted.
The comment period on the proposed carbon pollution limits rule is open until Oct. 16.
Complete information on the various ways to comment can be found at:
http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/how-comment-clean-power-plan-proposed-rule
![[Charlotte Sierra Club]](http://wnca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/epa-carbon-40.jpg)