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Obama Announces Historic Plan To Limit Carbon Pollution, But Some Vow To Challenge It

A plume of steam billows from the coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow, N.H.  President Barack Obama on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, will unveil the final version of his unprecedented regulations clamping down on carbon dioxide emissions from existing U.S. power plants. The Obama administration first proposed the rule last year. Opponents plan to sue immediately to stop the rule's implementation. (Jim Cole/AP Photo)
A plume of steam billows from the coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow, N.H. President Barack Obama on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, will unveil the final version of his unprecedented regulations clamping down on carbon dioxide emissions from existing U.S. power plants. The Obama administration first proposed the rule last year. Opponents plan to sue immediately to stop the rule's implementation. (Jim Cole/AP Photo)

President Barack Obama and Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy are releasing a final version of the Clean Power Plan today, the first national standards to cut carbon pollution from power plants.

The regulations require power plants to cut carbon dioxide emissions 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Carbon dioxide is among the leading causes of climate change, and Obama has said that fighting climate change is as central to his legacy as the Affordable Care Act. The plan also requires power plants use more renewable sources of energy, including wind and solar.

Industry groups and coal companies, and coal producing states including Wyoming and West Virginia have vowed to challenge the rules.

Stephanie Joyce, of contributor Inside Energy is based in Wyoming, talks with Here & Now’s Robin Young about the Clean Power Plan and what it might mean for the coal industry.

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Related:2030 power plant emissions target, by state via Inside Energy:

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Related: What Do Your State’s Emissions Look Like via the World Resources Institute

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