NRDC Carbon Dioxide Reduction Plan

NRDC has crafted an approach to cut carbon dioxide from existing power plants that:

• uses the legal authority under the Clean Air Act.
• recognizes differences in the starting points among states.
• charts a path to affordable and effective emissions reductions by tapping into the ingenuity of the states.
• provides multiple compliance options, including cleaning up existing power plants, shifting power generation to plants with lower emissions or none at all, and improving the efficiency of electricity use.

NRDC Report: "Closing the Power Plant Carbon Pollution Loophole: Smart Ways the Clean Air Act Can
Clean Up America’s Biggest Climate Polluters"

Using the same sophisticated integrated planning model used by the industry and the EPA, NRDC calculated the pollution reductions that would result from the proposed approach -- and the costs and benefits of achieving those reductions.

The plan would cut CO2 pollution from America's power plants by 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 34 percent by 2025. The price tag: about $4 billion in 2020. But the benefits -- in saved lives, reduced illnesses, and climate change avoided -- would be $26 to 60 billion, 6 to 15 times greater than the costs. (NRDC)