The Obama Administration addressed the issue of climate change this week with a 600-page Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rule that would require existing power plants to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The proposal includes wide-ranging greenhouse gas reduction targets for states. Additional energy-efficiency mandates for buildings are likely to be one of the ways that states will be able to meet the new requirements.
Coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of U.S. carbon emissions. So regions with the strongest reliance on coal-generated electricity would be most impacted, but the effects of EPA’s rule would ultimately be felt nationwide. Already coal-state Senators like Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have introduced legislation to limit the rule.
NMHC/NAA will continue to monitor this issue as the rulemaking process plays out over the next few months.
