User:Nicolewin/Clean Power Plan

Reduced CO₂ emissions

Wind Power Plant, Jeanne Menjoulet, May 13, 2017

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), coal in 2015 in the United States produced 1,364,000,000 metric tons of CO₂. This amounted to 71% of CO₂ emissions from the electric power sector. By switching this coal generation to a cleaner source such as wind power, CO₂ emissions could be significantly reduced. In addition, evidence suggests that wind power now has a lower cost of production than coal or natural gas, even when subsidies are taken into account. According to the League of Conservation Voters in 2015, the Clean Power Plan "established the first national limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants—our nation's single largest source of the pollution fueling climate change" and was "the biggest step" the United States had "ever taken to address climate change."

The United States' enactment of the Clean Power Plan was one of the first major global initiatives to curb internal greenhouse gas emissions. Since the plan was established in 2014, there have been various global efforts made to decrease toxic particulate matter emissions by other developed nations. The Paris Agreement was agreed upon in October 2016 and entered into force in November 2016. The Paris Agreement aims to combat global climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In order to enact the plan, 194 UNFCCC member nations have signed the treaty, 172 of which have ratified it.

The poorest, most underdeveloped nations emit the lowest levels of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gasses. According to the World Bank, greenhouse gas emissions from large nations such as the United States and China disproportionately affect developing nations who don't have the infrastructure to combat climate change induced drought, famine, and other natural and anthropogenic disasters.

Health impact

Drought, Bruce Dupree, October 17, 2016

According to Energy Innovation's Energy Policy Simulator, a repeal of the Clean Power Plan would lead to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 500 million metric tons by 2030, and by 2050, that figure would rise to more than 1,200 million metric tons.

Furthermore, the EPA's proximity analysis concludes that a higher percentage of minority and low-income communities live near power plants when compared to the national averages, increasing risk of disease and death due to toxic particulate matter emissions and air pollution.

The EPA has determined that greenhouse gas pollution causes global temperature warming, leading to harmful changes to the environment and human health globally such as increased drought and increased famine due to decrease in water supply and agricultural production. According to the EPA fact sheet on the Clean Power Plan, climate change is responsible for everything from stronger storms to longer droughts and increased insurance premiums, food prices and allergy seasons. The populations most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change include children, older adults, people with heart or lung disease and people living in poverty. The repeal of the Clean Power Plan will increase greenhouse gas emissions, expediting the damaging environmental changes due to climate change that disproportionately affect subaltern populations around the globe.