Environmental Law & Policy Center issues support for EPA Clean Power Plan

In response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s release of its final Clean Power Plan regulation on Tuesday, Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) Executive Director Howard Learner issued a statement commending the agency for its bold, yet flexible, rule.

“Solving our climate change problems is the moral, economic, policy and political challenge of our generation,” Learner said. “The plan’s clean energy development solutions will create Midwest jobs, improve global public health and protect our Great Lakes ecosystem.”

The Clean Power Plan is the first national regulation on carbon emissions from power plants, but has been designed in a way to make it easy for states to reach compliance by creating state-specific emissions reduction goals and allowing them to determine their own plans for reaching those targets.

“The Clean Power Plan gives states flexibility for implementation strategies that maximize the benefits of both cutting carbon pollution and growing the clean energy economy,” Learner said. “The Environmental Law & Policy Center’s experts on the ground will work with the Midwest’s local stakeholders on plans that will deploy clean technologies to hold down utility bills, create jobs and improve environmental quality.”