Carbon Emissions “Not a Factor” When Approving Coal Plants, EPA Administrator Says

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen Johnson released a 19-page memo last Thursday claiming that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant subject to regulation when permitting coal-fired power plants.

Johnson’s reasoning goes against a ruling made by his own agency, when the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board rejected a permit from a regional EPA office in Denver for a 110 megawatt plant on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Utah. The three-judge panel denied the permit saying that the regional office failed to support its decision to approve the plant without requiring it to have the best CO2 controls available, further directing the office to think again about its determination that the controls not be put in place.

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