US President Barack Obama has taken an important step against climate change by presenting the first national plan to reduce carbon emission and prepare the country for the impact of the changes.
One of the most important and controversial measures is the limitation of carbon emission from power plants.
“Power plants can still dump limitless carbon pollution into the air for free,” said the US President. “That’s not right, it’s not safe and it needs to stop.”
Several entities of the industry, as well as Republican congressmen, have criticised the plan by saying that it will lead to unemployment and affect the economy.
“That is what they always say and they are always wrong,” answered Obama and added that he will be instructing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to go beyond what was predicted and set rules for new plants as well as existing ones.
The EPA had already thought out a similar proposal which would limit the emission of carbon gases of natural gas power plants, but not of coal-fired plants which would be dependent on new technologies.
The details of the plan were made public by the White House a couple of hours before Obama’s speech at the University of Georgetown, Washington.
“I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that’s beyond repair,” Obama told the audience.
