The Role of States in Implementing the Clean Power Plan

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan offers states the opportunity to curb rising natural gas use in the United States, writes Alison Cassady.

Part of a Series

Idea of the Day

Idea of the Day

Climate change poses a real and present danger to people in countries all over the world. Scientists agree that we need to move swiftly and aggressively to decarbonize the global economy—that is, to reduce the amount of carbon released per unit of gross domestic product—by deploying clean energy technologies and making energy systems more efficient.

In the United States, electric utilities are the largest source of carbon pollution. Therefore, the reduction of power-sector emissions needs to be a central component of any meaningful climate mitigation strategy. In June, the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, released a landmark proposal to establish the first-ever carbon-pollution standards for the nation’s power plants.

For more on this idea, please see:

Mitigating Natural Gas Use in the Electricity Sector by Alison Cassady

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