The White House says the power plant rules it plans to roll out this summer are part of a bid to create “long-term” incentives for wind and solar energy.
President Obama’s senior climate change adviser, Brian Deese, explained the strategy Tuesday in a conference call with reporters to discuss a new agreement between the U.S. and Brazil to derive 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy by 2030, excluding hydro-electric resources.
RELATED: EPA bans hydrofluorocarbons over climate change concerns
The Environmental Protection Agency’s emission rules for power plants, known as the Clean Power Plan, would be used to undergird that goal, according to Deese.
“Our path to get there is consistent with the overall approach we’ve laid out, including principally being driven by the long-term incentives in the Clean Power Plan,” Deese said. “One of the things we intend to accomplish in implementing the final Clean Power Plan rule … is to demonstrate strong, long-term incentives for investments in renewables.”
RELATED: White House rushing to meet summer deadline for climate rules
Republicans have criticized the president for using the EPA regulations to garner support for achieving international goals for emission reductions at the expense of the U.S. economy. They say the Clean Power Plan would raise electric prices for Americans while delivering minimal environmental benefits.
The administration is moving the EPA climate rules through the final review phase, with plans to issue the regulations in August.
RELATED: 22 states sue EPA over water rule
The Clean Power Plan seeks to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions through a process that places states on the hook for the reductions, as opposed to individual power plants.
The plan relies on the development of renewables and natural gas-fired power plants to reach the state-specific targets, while setting efficiency targets for coal plants that critics argue will be impossible to achieve – forcing more coal out the country’s energy mix.
RELATED: Senate Dems ask governors’ input on national clean energy policy
The plan is the centerpiece of the president’s climate change agenda. The emissions the Clean Power Plan seeks to reduce are considered by many scientists to be the root cause of manmade climate change.
The plan is considered key in Obama’s attempt to persuade other countries such as Brazil to reduce their emissions in line with commitments by major economies. Those commitments are being submitted as formal plans to the United Nations ahead of conference at the end of the year to negotiate a global deal on emission reductions.
RELATED: Supreme Court decision could resurrect coal plants
Brazil’s pledge to double its renewable energy development is seen as a step toward reaching a global accord in Paris. Yet, the agreement falls short of any firm commitments, and Brazil has not submitted its formal plan to the U.N. outlining its emission reduction targets.
Brazil is a major emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, even though it doesn’t fit into the category of industrialized nations such as the U.S., France and Germany.
RELATED: Supreme Court brings EPA down a notch
The large South American nation has made commitments in the past to reducing emissions by as much as 36 percent below business as usual. But it also has complained that larger industrial nations haven’t made good on providing emerging economies with $100 billion in financing to fund projects to combat climate change.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting at the White House, Brazil, leaders from China, India and South Africa were in New York to discuss the negotiations in Paris. The countries expressed “disappointment over the continued lack of any clear roadmap for developed countries to provide $100 billion per year by 2020, as well as on substantially scaling up financial support after 2020,” according to a joint communiqué.
RELATED: Fiorina takes aim at ‘terrible’ EPA climate rules
Those commitments to climate financing were made in prior years during previous U.N. climate talks. Officials representing the countries expressed the desire to have the financing issue worked out before Paris.
Nevertheless, the joint agreement between the Brazil and the U.S. falls silent on the previous financing issue, and instead talks about a new bilateral exchange to catalyze investments in clean energy and other activities to curb emissions. It’s not certain if that will suffice for Brazil’s financing needs.
RELATED: GOP bill to delay climate rules feeds into 2016 election strategy
The joint agreement also affirms that climate change is caused by human activity and both nations must take action to address the threat it poses.
“The global scientific community has made clear that human activity is already changing the world’s climate system, causing serious impacts, putting ever larger numbers of people at risk, posing challenges to sustainable development, affecting particularly the poor and most vulnerable, and harming economies and societies around the world, including in the United States and Brazil,” a joint statement between the two nations read.
The agreement comes as China submitted its plan to the U.N., pledging commitments to emissions and fossil fuel reductions to reach an agreement later this year.
RELATED: White House threatens to veto bills targetting EPA and climate rules
EPA is pushing for wind http://washex.am/1CdYcK8 in Politics on LockerDome
