Obama to announce historic climate change plan
Energy industry figures poised to challenge US president’s measures

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Barack Obama is set to unveil what he calls "the biggest, most important step" ever taken by the US to tackle climate change.
The aim of the US president's revised Clean Power Plan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the country's power stations by nearly a third within 15 years, the BBC reports. The plan will particularly focus on wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources.
In a video released on social media, the White House said the release of the plan would fire "the starting gun for an all-out climate push" by the president and his cabinet.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Obama added: "My administration will release the final version of America's Clean Power Plan, the biggest, most important step we have ever taken to combat climate change."
Leading figures in the energy industry will oppose the plan and have already vowed to fight it. They describe his measures as "a war on coal". Power plants fired by coal provide more than a third of the US's electricity supply.
A legal battle between federal environmental regulators and coal industry supporters could be lengthy and costly. The National Mining Association said it will seek to block the plan in federal court, Reuters reports. "These [requirements] will burden Americans with increasingly high costs for an essential service and a less reliable electric grid for delivering it," raged Hal Quinn, president of the NMA.
However, Obama is determined to press ahead with the plans. Commentators say he will be hoping that today's announcement will secure his legacy on climate change.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
What to know when filing a hurricane insurance claim
The Explainer A step-by-step to figure out what insurance will cover and what else you can do beyond filing a claim
By Becca Stanek Published
-
How fees impact your investment portfolio — and how to save on them
The Explainer Even seemingly small fees can take a big bite out of returns
By Becca Stanek Published
-
Enemy without
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Shell’s North Sea oil U-turn: ‘a first victory in a longer war’?
Speed Read Controversy after oil giant pulls out of proposed Cambo project
By The Week Staff Published
-
Fires, floods and storms: America’s ‘permanent emergency’ has begun
Speed Read This summer of climate horror feels like the ‘first, vertiginous 15 minutes of a disaster movie’, says The New York Times
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Hot air and empty rhetoric: is the UK acting too slowly on climate change?
Speed Read ‘Every day, new evidence accumulates that humanity is on an unsustainable path’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Germany floods: what led to this ‘once-in-a-century’ disaster?
Speed Read Nearly 200 people died in Germany and Belgium; hundreds are still unaccounted for
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Total ban on imports of rubbish to China piles pressure on Asian neighbours
Speed Read Veto on accepting overseas junk marks culmination of three-year reduction policy
By Joe Evans Last updated
-
Penguin colony at risk as Somerset-sized iceberg bears down on British overseas territory
Speed Read Several species face starvation if the icy giant blocks access to feeding grounds
By Aaron Drapkin Published
-
‘Full of hot air’: climate experts exposed as academia’s most frequent flyers
Speed Read Study results trigger calls for environmentalists to ‘look in the mirror’
By Chas Newkey-Burden Last updated
-
Mystery of millions of migrating birds dropping dead from US skies
Speed Read Some experts believe the West Coast wildfires may be to blame for ‘unprecedented’ mass bird deaths in New Mexico
By The Week Staff Last updated