US plans to reduce power plant greenhouse gases 30% by 2030

The US government has rolled out a plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 30% by 2030, a centrepiece of President Barack Obama’s efforts to reduce the pollution linked to global warming.

The rule, expected to be final next year, sets in motion one of the most significant actions on global warming in US history. The Obama administration hopes the step will get other countries to act when negotiations on a new international treaty resume next year.

Power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the US, accounting for about a third of the annual emissions that make the country the second largest contributor to global warming.

Yet the rule carries significant political and legal risks. It will help further diminish coal’s role in producing electricity. Coal, which once supplied about half the nation’s electricity, has dropped to 40% as it has been replaced by booming supplies of natural gas and renewable sources such as wind and solar.

Republicans are certain to attack the regulation rigorously, sending jitters among Democrats up for re-election in November in the energy-producing states.

Exactly how states will meet customised targets is likely to be pushed to the next administration. States could have until 2017 to submit a plan to cut power plant pollution, and 2018 if they join with other states to tackle the problem, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s 645-page proposal.

An executive order issued last summer had set a June 2016 deadline for state plans.

Gina McCarthy, an administrator with the EPA, said the rule is “ambitious, but achievable”.

She said: “The glue that holds this plan together — and the key to making it work — is that each state’s goal is tailored to its own circumstances, and states have the flexibility to reach their goal in whatever works best for them.”

Despite concluding in 2009 that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare, a finding that triggered their regulation under the 1970 Clean Air Act, it has taken years for the administration to take on the nation’s fleet of power plants. In December 2010, the Obama administration announced a “modest pace” for setting greenhouse gas standards for power plants, setting a May 2012 deadline.

Obama put them on the fast track last summer when he announced his climate action plan and a renewed commitment to climate change after the issue went dormant during his re-election campaign.