>Government proposes first carbon limits on power plants
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON | Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:19pm EDT
(Reuters) – The Obama administration proposed on Tuesday the first rules to cut carbon dioxide emissions from new U.S. power plants, a move hotly contested by Republicans and industry in an election year.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal would effectively stop the building of most new coal-fired plants in an industry that is moving rapidly to more natural gas. But the rules will not regulate existing power plants, the source of one third of U.S. emissions, and will not apply to any plants that start construction over the next 12 months.
The watering down of the proposal led some ardent environmentalists to criticize its loopholes, but a power company that has taken steps to cut emissions praised the rules.
https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/27/us-usa-carbon-idUSBRE82Q0W120120327