US EPA sets first ever power plant pollution limits

New regulations in the US will set strict limits on the amount of emissions and pollution that paper plants are allowed to generate, as the first step in President Barack Obama's climate change package is rolled out.

The guidelines, which will be implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have been long in the pipeline, and are set to make it more difficult for new coal-fired power plants to be built, though the move has led to criticism of the Obama administration from industry sources, Reuters reports.

The legislation is an updated version of a previous EPA attempt to create emissions standards for fossil fuel plants and will require new large natural gas-fired turbines to stay within a production limit of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour (MWh), while smaller natural gas-fired turbines would need to stay within 1,100 pounds of CO2 per MWh.

In addition, new coal-fired units would be required to meet a limit of 1,100 pounds of CO2 per MWh, though these will be given operational flexibility to achieve it, according to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy.

In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, she attempted to quell fears that the new campaign simply amounts to a war on coal.

Ms McCarthy added: "There needs to be a certain pathway forward for coal to be successful. Setting fair Clean Air Act standards does not cause the sky to fall."

Despite the EPA's assurances, stocks in coal mining companies have fallen this year and Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, a coal producing state, said the announcement is evidence of the industry being held to "impossible standards".

However, Ms McCarthy reiterated that the current administration is determined to reduce emissions and make the environment cleaner for future generations.

She concluded: "It's not just the elderly who suffer from air pollution, so do children - especially children in lower income and urban communities. If your child doesn't need an inhaler, then you are one very lucky parent."