EPA Releases Review of Climate bill

EPA Releases Review of Climate bill”

After declaring that carbon emissions were a threat to human health, the Environmental Protection Agency has given high marks to the climate bill put forward by the House Energy committee. According to the EPA, the Waxman-Markey bill, also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, will - drive the clean energy transformations of the U.S. economy, - and substantially reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

The E.P.A. focused its analysis on the bill’s proposed cap-and-trade mechanism. It assumes that carbon prices would range from 13 to 17 dollars a ton in 2015, and would rise by about 5 percent a year. By 2020, carbon costs would reach 17 to 22 dollars a ton. That is approximately what participants in a European Union cap-and-trade program are currently paying.

The E.P.A.’s analysis suggests that under the plan, the share of low-carbon and zero-carbon energy sources — including renewables like wind and solar and nuclear and carbon-capture plants — would rise to 26 percent of the nation’s energy mix by 2030, and could reach 46 percent by 2050. The EPA estimated that - without the policy, that share would remain at a steady 14 percent.