Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that a low-carbon economy is “inevitable” even without the strict emissions regulations the White House has proposed for coal power plants.
Biden told a coalition of unions and environmentalists Monday that instead of fighting the administration, Republicans and the coal industry should join it in helping coal workers make the transition to a clean energy economy.
He argued that the change from a fossil fuel-dependent economy to one reliant on cleaner, low-carbon energy resources is inevitable. Even without strict regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, “market forces” will move the economy in that direction, he said.
“Reality has a way of intruding,” Biden said. “Market forces, in addition to all of us, are intruding.”
He said businesses are pricing the cost of greenhouse gas emissions into their business strategies, regardless of the EPA rules.
Corporations also are choosing cleaner energy resources and are endorsing more environmentally sustainable business practices that help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming, he said. Many scientists say these emissions are causing the Earth’s climate to warm, resulting in droughts and severe weather.
Biden’s speech seeks to confront the criticism the Obama administration has received for issuing stringent greenhouse gas regulations that would force a significant number of coal plants to retire in favor of natural gas, renewable energy resources and efficiency.
Biden said critics of the administration’s climate plan are mistaken if they think the White House will not act to support coal communities in West Virginia, Ohio and other states to “help them through this inevitable change.”
He said the coal mining regions have offered “considerable sacrifices and commitments” to the nation. “We can’t leave them behind, just as they never left us behind.”
He asked Republicans and members of Congress to fund a program proposed in the administration’s budget called “PowerPlus,” which would help restore coal workers’ pensions. He also proposed tens of millions of dollars for job training, to help coal workers make the transition to work in the clean energy sector.
His comments come three days ahead of oral arguments in a major court challenge opposing the EPA climate regulations. West Virginia and more than a dozen other states are suing the EPA over the regulations.
The rules would impose first-of-a-kind emission reductions for existing power plants. But instead of the regulations falling on individual power plants, it is up to each state to submit individual compliance plans. Critics say the EPA is “overreaching” in violation of the agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act.
