To defend its radical plan, EPA Administrator Michael Regan says the nation needs to "significantly reduce gas emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants, protecting health and protecting our planet.
"When finalized, these technology standards are expected to avoid 617 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by the year 2042," Regan said Thursday. "It will bring substantial health benefits to communities all across the country, especially our frontline communities. our environmental justice communities. communities that have unjustly born the burden of pollution for decades."
Almost all coal plants — along with large, frequently used gas-fired power plants — would have to cut or capture nearly all their carbon dioxide emissions by 2038, the EPA said.
Plants that cannot meet the new standards would be forced to shut down, meaning they would no longer contribute to the nation's electric grid.
Jack Spencer, senior research fellow for Energy and Environmental Policy at The Heritage Foundation, warns a 16-year deadline is not far into the future.
"Especially when you are talking about the timelines required to build, permit, and get operating new power plants," he tells AFN.
When you combine that EPA demand for power plants with the EPA's new rule that will push almost 70% of our vehicles to be electric, Spencer warns there will be an immense demand on the U.S. electricity grid system. If you combine a jump in demand for electricity with shutting down power plants that provide it, he says electrical blackouts and brownouts are the logical effect to a problem government created.
There is also the Big Brother issue of government rationing the electrical power that remains.
“Not only of the types of cars we drive and the types of power we use,” he warns, “but when we drive, if we drive, and if and when we use power. It really is quite dangerous what they are setting up here."
According to the Energy Information Administration, which falls under the umbrella of the Department of Energy, natural gas provided 39.8% of the nation's electricity in 2022. Coal kicked in 19.5%. Wind provided 10.2% and solar provided only 3.4%.
"All of the wind and solar has to be backed up by either coal, natural gas, or nuclear," says Spencer. "Because, as we all know, the wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine."
Regarding the EPA's claims over improving air quality, Spencer says its own data shows air pollution has dropped dramatically. That is not surprising, he advises, because prosperous countries such as the United States have the cleanest environments.
That is all about to change in coming years, he warns, because of a policy he says is “built around lies."
Unless it is stopped, Spencer tells AFN, it will make our once-great country a poorer one whose people are living in the dark, like a Third World country, in the name of saving the planet.
