Obama takes first step on climate change
Friends of the Earth applauds this long overdue first step to protect our climate
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Obama administration proposed the first ever standards to limit carbon pollution from new U.S. power plants. Emissions standards on power plants are an important piece of a comprehensive climate plan, but these standards are not nearly enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth, had the following statement:
“We thank the Environmental Protection Agency for taking this important first step on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While this standard is important, it lacks the ambition needed to address global climate change. We need to get beyond fossil fuels, not simply move to natural gas.
“Emissions standards for new power plants are the easy part, and the White House should have moved this rule during their first term. Now we need the president to take the hard steps necessary to get us the emissions reductions we require. Cleaning up dirty existing plants will be a more important step.
“It is not sufficient for the U.S. to reduce the emissions from U.S. power plants while exporting dirty fossil fuels to the rest of the world. The president can lead on this by instructing the federal government to leave dirty fossil fuels in the ground.”
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Contact:
Adam Russell, (202) 222-0722, [email protected]