Illinois And EPA's Proposed New Rules In President Obama's Relentless War On Coal

I don't plan to write much or often about President Obama's new rules in the relentless war-on-coal, but this is a nice article sent to me be a reader. Chicago Business is reporting how the state of Illinois will be affected by the new rules and how they will respond:

Are Illinois power plants a source of significant emissions?

Yes, indeed. Only five other states emitted more greenhouse gases from power plants than Illinois in 2012, according to the EPA. And while the Obama administration is saying that the proposed rule requires a 30 percent reduction of carbon from the power sector by 2030 based on their emissions in 2005, the reductions don't fall equally state by state. Illinois is being asked to cut its power-plant emissions by 33 percent from its 2012 emissions. Only two other Midwestern states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, are being asked to do more. Strangely, neighboring Indiana, which emits more greenhouse gases than far larger Illinois thanks to its heavy dependence on carbon-heavy coal, must cut its emissions by only 20 percent.

This was my reply to the reader:

Another very good article.

This is exactly what will happen: states will apply for / receive waivers to delay.

From the article: ".. pushed by mining and transportation unions along with the coal industry, called on the EPA to allow Illinois to take longer to comply with the rule and to meet less stringent standards (if it desires) in the interest of keeping coal-fired power plants open."

A couple of days ago I posted a story that said the EPA cannot have different rules for different regions, giving unfair advantage to one region over another (inter-state commerce law), so it only takes one state to win a delay/waiver, as far as I can tell -- because many states provide electricity for neighboring states (Utah coal-electricity for California; ND coal-electricity to MN).

The other good news: presidents come and go.