COP 21: EPA head says Clean Power Plan will endure

OREANDA-NEWS. December 09, 2015. Nations gathered at climate talks in Paris can be confident that major CO2 regulations for US power plants will not be repealed by Congress or by a new presidential administration, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy said today.

McCarthy is using a number of appearances around the Paris talks this weeks to stress that the Clean Power Plan regulations will remain in place, resulting in a major slice of the emissions cuts the US has pledged to make under a new global climate deal. Neither Congress nor a new president is likely to undo the regulations, McCarthy said.

"Our plan will stick and it will stand the test of time," she said.

President Barack Obama will soon veto two resolutions Congress recently passed to repeal the Clean Power Plan and EPA's CO2 limits for new power plants, McCarthy said. In addition, any effort by a Republican president to repeal the regulations would have to go through a lengthy process, and would likely face legal challenges.

A new president "just cannot undo that by saying "I do not want to do it,'' she said.

The Clean Power Plan requires each state's power sector to meet a CO2 target by 2030, with interim targets for 2022-29.

Despite assurances from McCarthy and other administration officials, Republicans in Congress have sought to sow doubt about the permanence of the regulations, saying UN negotiators should be aware that the rules are likely to be overturned in court. This means the US commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28pc from 2005 levels by 2025 should not be taken at face value.