Blog Posts: power plants

The EPA will soon release emissions standards for existing power plants, the single-largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Certain large electricity consumers in Rajasthan state will need to get about 10 percent of their power from renewable sources—or risk getting fined.

The Obama administration committed to reduce U.S. emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. A new WRI study reveals how to achieve that target—and go even further—through existing federal policies and state action.

WRI Board member and former Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy Sue Tierney explains why April 16th was a remarkable (and remarkably dull) milestone in electric-industry history.

President Obama reiterated his commitment to combating climate change during this week's State of the Union address.

Mitigating these impacts means turning the many climate commitments of 2014 into tangible action in 2015.

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moves forward with standards to reduce emissions from existing power plants—which are due to be finalized in June 2015—many states are thinking through how they will comply. WRI’s fact sheet series, Power Sector Opportunities for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions, examines the policies and pathways various states can use to cost-effectively meet or even exceed future power plant emissions standards. This post explores these...

The U.S. EPA has proposed standards to limit power sector emissions, which, once adopted, are expected to reduce carbon pollution from power plants by 25 percent by 2020. But as we recently noted in our public comment on the proposal, increasingly cost-effective efficiency and renewable energy opportunities mean that the EPA can and should require even greater emissions reductions.

Where do U.S. power sector emissions come from? And how have they changed over time?

Today, WRI released an update of its U.S. state GHG emissions data via CAIT 2.0, our climate data explorer. These and other data provide valuable context in light of the EPA's newly proposed emissions standards for U.S. power plants.

U.S. climate action received support yesterday from four former EPA administrators who served Republican presidents. William D. Ruckelshaus, Lee M. Thomas, William K. Reilly, and Christine Todd Whitman testified before the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee at a hearing entitled “Climate Change: The Need to Act Now.”

They delivered a clear message for Congress: Climate change is one of the greatest threats to America’s economy, environment, and communities—and it need not be a partisan issue.

The EPA's proposed rule to cut carbon pollution from power plants is a critical step in avoiding the worst consequences of global warming. Without significant reductions from the power sector—America’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions—the country cannot meet its goal of reducing its emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. EPA’s proposal provides a flexible framework that puts those reductions within reach.

Here’s a look at how the proposed rule would impact states and the future of U.S. climate action.