EPA Administrator Champions Effort To Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions In Wisconsin

The Midwest leader of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in Wisconsin this week, working to ease concerns about a federal climate change initiative that targets carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. coal-fired power plants.

EPA regional administrator Susan Hedman spoke on Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She said the clean power plan will mean reducing carbon dioxide emissions from Wisconsin power plants by about one-third over the next 15 years or so. Hedman said the national plan is well within the EPA’s authority and will withstand an expected lawsuit from Wisconsin and some other states.

“We do think the clean power plan is on a very firm legal footing,” Hedman said. “This is after all, a basic emissions performance standard that applies to all units across the United States in a uniform manner. That’s plain vanilla, Clean Air Act.”

Todd Palmer, a lawyer for manufacturers, told the forum that the federal plan is regulatory creep.

Hedman will speak on Friday in Madison to the Customers First Coalition.