Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said coal-dependent communities were going to struggle regardless of the Obama administration’s power plant regulations, and that the White House is working to smooth a transition away from the fuel source.
McCarthy defended an EPA proposal to slash power-sector carbon emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. She said economic factors — such as competitive prices from natural gas and coal seams that are becoming more expensive and difficult to mine — already were edging coal out of the electricity mix, bringing hardship to communities dependent on coal.
“The coal industry has been in some difficulty regardless of whether this rule moves forward,” she said Friday at Georgetown University. “Coal as a fuel source for power plants is really not competitive in most of the United States.”
The federal government has offered some grants for job retraining programs in communities heavily reliant on the coal industry. McCarthy said the White House has appointed a liaison to coordinate transition efforts in such places.
“It’s not going to get easier for those states that are heavily reliant on the coal industry to really not only put bread on their tables, but [also for] their communities,” she added. “And I think we all recognize that.”
Conservatives and industry say the proposed rule will hike electricity costs and disproportionately hit low-income families and coal-dependent communities. But the rule’s backers say it will curb the effects of climate change while also delivering health benefits by taking older, dirtier plants offline.
The EPA expects coal will still provide 30 percent of the nation’s electricity once the rule is fully implemented in 2030, down from just above 40 percent currently
While many electric utilities have put up a fight regarding the proposed rule, McCarthy said she’s confident they’re working on plans to comply and that they will make a “significant leap forward.”
“They are already having conversations,” McCarthy said. “The energy world is changing. I think they know that. They’ve been thinking about it for a long time.”
