Why conservatives should be stoked about Obama's new environmental rules

If the EPA's new regulations for coal-powered plants are struck down, you can expect even tougher restrictions

Chalk Point Generating Station
(Image credit: (Mark Wilson/Getty Images))

This week, President Obama unveiled the most important policy of his second term: New regulations on existing coal-fired power plants, which amount to the U.S. government's most concerted effort yet to roll back climate change. Undoubtedly, business and conservative groups are already planning an all-out war against these new rules in the courts. But there is reason for them to pause. If the rules are struck down, then they will likely face much more onerous and expensive regulations in short order.

Obama's goal is to cut coal-fired power emissions by 30 percent by 2030, from a 2005 baseline. If implemented with decent speed, the rule ought to put the U.S. on track to meet the goals of the 2009 Copenhagen Agreement, which proposed a 17 percent reduction in emissions by 2020. In today's political context, it's an excellent start.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.