EPA releases revamped regulations on emissions from coal power plants and passenger vehicles

Mammatus clouds that are usually associated with thunderstorms.

On August 21, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new rule to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired electric utility generating units and power plants across the country. The Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule would replace the 2015 Clean Power Plan (CPP) Rule. On August 24, the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks and establish new standards for model years 2021 through 2026.

EPA announces revision of greenhouse gas emission standards

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the agency would revise fuel economy standards for cars and trucks for model years 2022 through 2025, citing recent data that suggest the current standards are not appropriate. The current standards, requiring automakers to engineer their fleets so gas mileage would average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, were established by President Barack Obama’s administration in 2012.

The current status of the Paris Climate Agreement

The Paris Climate Agreement reached the minimum requirements necessary to enter into force this October, four years earlier than the previously anticipated 2020 target.

EARTH: Greening the Friendly Skies

In light of global concerns about emissions and climate change, the aviation industry is cleaning up its act. The industry is reducing emissions, decreasing fuel use, increasing efficiency and developing new technologies to alter its environmental impacts. The November issue of EARTH magazine focuses on the changes to learn how the aviation industry is using synthetic fuels and engineering, and even altering common flight plans to keep up with changing protocols and dwindling resources.