The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new electric generating sources “is not designed to improve environmental performance… and will bar the construction of new, more-efficient coal plants that would provide our nation a robust, diverse, reliable and affordable source of electricity,” National Mining Association Director of Air Quality Alex Bond will testify later today before an EPA hearing on the rule in Washington, D.C. Bond will also highlight the “unlawful, unprecedented and unwise nature of EPA’s proposed rule.”
Bond will explain the proposed rule will “impair the reliability and affordability of domestic energy supplies by severely diminishing the diversity of electricity generation sources” and will expose U.S. consumers and businesses “to less reliable, more expensive and more volatile electric generation sources.” At the heart of EPA’s proposal is the unprecedented creation of a source category that unlawfully combines coal, oil and gas plants. The proposal further focuses on carbon capture and storage—technology that is not commercially available—for coal-based generation, while stipulating no technology requirements for other fuel sources.
Bond will urge the agency to withdraw its proposed rule in favor of a “practical and achievable standard for coal and natural gas fired units that is in step with a true ’All of the Above’ energy strategy.”
For NMA’s testimony, click here.