US President Barack Obama Unveils Clean Energy Plans Monday August 03,2015

 

US President Barack Obama has unveiled what he called "the biggest, most important step we have ever taken" in tackling climate change.

The aim of the revised Clean Power Plan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from US power stations by nearly a third within 15 years.
The revised plan will aim to cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 32% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
Each US state will have an emission-cutting goal assigned to it and must submit a proposal to the Environmental Protection Agency on how it will meet the target.

The measures will place significant emphasis on wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources.
US power stations are the country's largest source of greenhouse gases 

However, opponents in the energy industry have vowed to fight the plan.

"I'm convinced no challenge provides a greater threat to the future of the planet," Mr Obama said. "There is such a thing as being too late."
Those opponents say Mr Obama has declared "a war on coal". Power plants fired by coal provide more than a third of the US electricity supply.

 

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she would defend the plan if she was elected to replace Mr Obama.
"It will need defending. Because Republican doubters and defeatists - including every Republican candidate for president - won't offer any credible solution," she said.
"The truth is, they don't want one."
One Republican presidential candidate, Marco Rubio, said the plan would be "catastrophic," while another, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, said the plan was "irresponsible and over-reaching".