New Carbon Pollution Standard is Good for Our Health, Our Economy and Our Planet

WASHINGTON (March 27, 2012) – The following is a statement from Frances Beinecke, president of Natural Resources Defense Council, on the industrial carbon pollution standard proposed by the Obama administration.

“This historic step is a win-win-win proposition.

“It’s good for our health because it’s a critical step toward protecting the most vulnerable among us—including the elderly and our children—from smog worsened by carbon-fueled climate change.

“It’s good for our economy because it will lead to cleaner, more modern, more efficient power plants.

“It’s good for our planet because it will help head off the catastrophic effects of climate change.

“This Environmental Protection Agency action means any new coal plants built in America must use modern, state-of-the-art carbon pollution controls.”

“The logical next step is to improve the aging fleet of existing coal-fired power plants, which remain the major source of industrial carbon pollution in our country.’’

Please see Frances Beinecke’s blog about this historic proposal: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fbeinecke/new_limits_on_carbon_pollution.html

and this blog by NRDC’s Climate and Clean Air Program Policy Director David Doniger: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ddoniger/cleaner_power_starts_today_epa.html

Please also see NRDC's new web page: "A Step in the Right Direction for Clean Air" http://www.nrdc.org/air/carbon-emissions/default.asp