In his State of the Union address next week, President Obama will hint at plans to use executive authority to impose his environmental agenda, the Wall Street Journal reports:
The action, building on a pledge in the second inaugural address, fits within Mr. Obama’s larger strategy of making full use of his executive authority in areas where Congress is putting up obstacles to his agenda.
The president may go a step further than the Environmental Protection Agency and propose cutting carbon emissions at existing coal plants, according to WSJ. The EPA so far has only regulated new power plants.
Republicans have made it clear that any efforts to impose new emissions standards on existing plants will be met with stiff resistance, saying the rules would deal a fatal blow to the coal industry. According to WSJ:
On Tuesday, Rep. Ed Whitfield, chairman of the House Energy and Power subcommittee, told reporters, “If they start trying to do this with existing plants, they’re going to have a real battle,” according to the Hill.
