The Obama administration proposed new regulations on Friday that would limit carbon pollution from new power plants. According to the Associated Press:
The proposal, which would set the first national limits on heat-trapping pollution from future power plants, is intended to help reshape where Americans get electricity, moving from a coal-dependent past into a future fired by cleaner sources of energy. It’s also a key step in President Barack Obama’s global warming plans, because it would put in motion proposals to end what he called “the limitless dumping of carbon pollution” from all power plants.
Under the law once the Environmental Protection Agency controls carbon at new plants, it will also control carbon at existing plants – a regulation the agency said Friday it would start work on immediately to meet a June 2014 deadline.
National Journal points out the move puts Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe in a complicated position, as Virginia’s “southwest is coal-mining country, and many Virginians rely on coal plants to keep the lights on.” McAuliffe campaign responded to the administration’s announcement by releasing a statement saying, “[McAuliffe] looks forward to further reviewing the president’s proposed rules.”
The reaction from the McAuliffe campaign is a stark contrast to the remarks McAuliffe made about coal plants in Virginia when he first ran for governor four years ago. During the 2009 Virginia Gubernatorial Democratic primary debate Terry McAuliffe exclaimed, “We have got to move past coal. I never want another coal plant built.”
Cuccinelli, according to National Journal, slammed the administration over the new law. “The needs of our job creators and families are much more important than special-interest groups and radical environmentalists,” Cuccinelli wrote in a statement. “It’s disappointing that the president and Terry McAuliffe either don’t understand that or don’t seem to care.”