Public hearing on EPA's proposed carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants, June 13, 14 and 15, 2023
These proposed rules are Obama's 2015 Clean Power plan on steroids.
On May 15, I published a Substack article about the EPA’s proposed rules to limit carbon emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants. The article’s subtitle was, “The purpose of the proposed EPA rule is to force the premature closure of coal and natural gas power generating plants with total disregard for the resulting instability of the nation’s power grids.” This article will provide a little background on the proposed rule.
This proposed EPA rule is potentially the most critical energy industry-related rule in the Biden presidency, and that is saying a lot. As my May 15 Substack article said, this proposed rule is Obama’s 2015 Clean Power Plan on steroids.
The online public hearing starts Tuesday, June 13, and goes through June 14 and 15. The times each day are 11 AM EST through 7 PM EST. The link to the hearings will be posted sometime before the hearings start on the webpage at this link.
I warn you that the list of registered speakers is entirely composed of pro-rule representatives from anti-fossil fuel NGOs such as American Lung Association, Moms Clean Air Force, Sierra Club, Action for Climate Emergency, Center for American Progress, and more of the same. If there is one speaker that is against the rule, I missed it.
Anyone interested in energy policy should listen to some of the testimony. I plan to listen to as much as possible and will write about it here on Substack. Here is the notice and link:
Public Hearing on EPA's Proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants
EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on June 13, 14 and 15, 2023, to provide the public the opportunity to present comments and information regarding the Agency’s proposal for carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants.
Hearing dates
Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM Eastern Time
Wednesday, June 14, 2023, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM Eastern Time
Thursday, June 15, 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM Eastern Time
A link to view the hearing will be available here before the hearing begins.
Background:
EPA is proposing Clean Air Act standards and guidelines to limit emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel-fired power plants based on cost-effective and available control technologies. The proposals would set limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal, oil and gas-fired steam generating units, and certain existing gas-fired combustion turbines.
Consistent with EPA’s traditional approach to establishing pollution standards for power plants under section 111 of the Clean Air Act, the proposed standards are based on technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration/storage, low-GHG hydrogen co-firing, and natural gas co-firing, which can be applied directly to power plants that use fossil fuels to generate electricity.
As laid out in section 111 of the Clean Air Act, the proposed new source performance standards and emission guidelines reflect the application of the best system of emission reduction that, taking into account costs, energy requirements, and other statutory factors, is adequately demonstrated for the purpose of improving the emissions performance of the covered electric generating units.