WASHINGTON – It’s called the Clean Power Plan and will be launched in the next few hours. The new provision for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, set by Barack Obama, focuses on coal-fired power plants, on which 31% of harmful gas emissions in the United States and renewable sources depend. Each state will be required to reduce emissions from coal-fired plants and to initiate reforms that will drastically change the way electricity arrives in the homes of millions of Americans (40% of the electricity consumed by Americans is still produced in coal-fired power plants). “It is the biggest and most important step ever taken to combat climate change,” Barack Obama said in a video released on the White House Facebook page.

The updated version of the Clean Power Plan under discussion since last year intends to accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources (with a production to increase by 28% by 2030 compared to the 22% previously forecast) and sets more stringent targets to reduce emissions of harmful gases even without relying on gas-powered plants, which in any case emit polluting gases even if not as much as coal plants (about half).
First of all the objectives set to reduce pollution caused by coal-fired power plants by 32% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels (a 9% jump compared to what was previously forecast). States and suppliers that will accelerate investments in solar and wind energy will be rewarded with incentives. The limits will vary from state to state.

Stringent requests to the States, therefore, but also more time and much more flexibility to reach the required objectives, in order to reduce the objections of the opposition and possible appeals, the sources explain. The plan for the first time includes a “reliability safety valve” that states can earn, if necessary, to prevent possible supply problems during the transition. The States will therefore be able to begin the transition to renewable sources and the decommissioning of older power plants in 2022, two years after the date set. The savings for Americans, in terms of electricity bills, is estimated at $ 85 a year per family, after 2030.

The campaign that will be launched at this time along with the new Plan in view of the negotiations for an international treaty for the reduction of greenhouse gases in Paris includes in the near future a visit from Obama to Alaska to raise awareness in the American public about the effects of global warming on the environment .

In September, the meeting of the American president with Pope Francis is scheduled, visiting the United States, a meeting also dedicated to the theme of the environment and climate to which the Pontiff proved to be very sensitiveand on which he started, through the American church, initiatives to raise awareness among the faithful.

Already today a video message from the president will be launched in which he describes the plan developed by the Environmental Protection Agency “the biggest and most important step we have ever taken to combat climate change”. “The plants are the main source of pollution that contributes to climate change. But until now, there have been no federal limits to the amount of pollution that these plants can release into the air. Think about it”, explains the president in the video already recorded.