UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS • January 12, 2021
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule for regulating carbon emissions from new fossil fuel-fired power plants that could severely limit future climate action by the incoming Biden Administration. The rule defines a new framework for determining a “significant contribution finding” for stationary sources under the Clean Air Act. The result is an agency determination that does not hold other major industries responsible for their carbon pollution, a major departure from past practice and not supported by science. Julie McNamara, senior energy analyst at Union of Concerned Scientists, said, “This past year was tied for hottest on record globally. Communities are reeling from 22 separate billion-dollar disasters, totaling nearly $100 billion in damages. Yet, the Trump administration has again forsaken the needs of the people it has a duty to protect and chosen to advance the interests of polluters.”