The Environtmental Protection Agency is expected to issue regulations later this month blocking the construction of new coal plants unless they include what lobbyists contest are expensive carbon capture controls.
The restrictions on carbon emissions, reported Bloomberg News, are under review by White House officials and are scheduled to be released on Sept. 20. The regulations have already been revised after plants insisted that the new regualtions would shut down existing plants, and the new proposal is said to include a gradual phase-in of carbon capture technology over time for already-existing plants.
EPA Spokeswoman Alisha Johnson declined to comment about the upcoming regulations.
Coal is the largest contributor of greenhouse gasses in the United States, and the regulations are believed to be part of the White House’s plan to tackle climate change with regulatory authority, as President Barack Obama announced in his June 25 speech on climate change.
