Environmental

Climate Change, Not the Clean Power Plan, Poses the Most Significant Threat to Grid Reliability


Superstorm Sandy

The East River overflows into the Dumbo section of Brooklyn in New York during Superstorm Sandy, October 2012. SOURCE: AP/Bebeto Matthews

Washington, D.C. —(ENEWSPF)–May 15, 2015.  Today, the Center for American Progress released a column showing that extreme weather events, which will become more severe and frequent as the climate continues to warm, pose the most significant threat to electricity grid reliability. CAP released this column to challenge assertions that the Environmental Protection Agency’s, or EPA’s, Clean Power Plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants could harm the reliability of the nation’s electric grid.

“Several studies have shown that the Clean Power Plan is unlikely to hurt grid reliability, given the flexibility inherent in the plan,” said Myriam Alexander-Kearns, CAP Research Associate and author of the column. “On the other hand, scientists agree that climate change will lead to more severe storms, droughts, and heat waves—all of which strain the electricity grid. Failing to address climate change is a recipe for more power outages and reliability problems.”

The EPA’s Clean Power Plan—which is expected to be finalized later this summer—is an important step toward achieving the aggressive emissions reductions needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change.

Click here to read the column.

Source: www.americanprogress.org


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