The EPA recently announced new regulations limiting the carbon produced by power companies as part of a greater effort to curb climate change. However, on the 346th page of the 463-page report, under a section entitled “Impacts of the Proposed Action,” the EPA admits that it doesn’t think the new rules will reduce emissions of CO2, a major greenhouse gas, in any major way.
According to the report, “The EPA does not anticipate that this proposed rule will result in notable CO2 emission changes.” They released a press statement the same day the report was made public announcing their decision to “cut carbon pollution from new power plants in order to combat climate change.”
Last month, President Obama directed the EPA and the EPA’s new chief administrator, Gina McCarthy, to make climate change their top priority. Regulations the agency itself thinks won’t help are an interesting start.