Today, Evergreen Action released its final report card on EPA’s multi-pollutant power sector strategy. For the last two years, Evergreen has been tracking EPA’s progress on 11 critical power sector rules and releasing regular updates in the lead up to this year’s critical Congressional Review Act deadline. After EPA’s last wave of rule finalizations in April, pens are down and Evergreen has conducted a final assessment of the agency’s progress on this historic agenda. For the first time ever, Evergreen’s new report card includes letter grades assessing the strength of the rules issued this term.
EPA finalized 9 of the 11 power sector rules Evergreen has been tracking, and based on Evergreen’s analysis, the agency ended the term with 7 A’s, 2 B’s, and 2 Incompletes. The combined impact of these rules will cut approximately 155 million tons of carbon pollution each year, save 7,200 lives annually, and create $73 billion in health and climate benefits every year, across the country.
Read the full report here.
“Two years ago, Administrator Regan set out to do something historic: pursue a coordinated, multi-pollutant strategy to cut power sector pollution. And under his leadership, EPA has largely delivered,” said Evergreen Action Senior Power Sector Policy Lead Charles Harper. “This unprecedented effort has delivered strong standards that will save tens of thousands of lives, cut hundreds of millions of tons of climate pollution, and create trillions of dollars worth of economic benefits. Our work isn’t done yet: EPA still has critical rulemaking ahead to protect Americans from the public health threat posed by smog and climate pollution from existing gas power plants. But this is a first term record that EPA should be very proud to have accomplished and a critical step forward on the path to a safer future for us all.”
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