Highlights of Obama's climate plan
Highlights of President Barack Obama's national plan to combat climate change
President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping plan Tuesday to combat climate change and prepare the U.S. and other nations for its effects. Some highlights of the president's plan:
REDUCE POLLUTION
— Issue a presidential memorandum to launch the first-ever federal regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.
— Finalize proposed limits on carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants without further delay.
— Provide up to $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to spur investment in efficiency projects and advanced fossil energy, including technology to limit carbon emissions.
— Expand permitting for renewable energy projects like wind and solar on public lands, with a goal of powering more than 6 million homes by 2020.
— Set a goal of installing 100 megawatts of renewable energy projects on federally assisted housing projects by 2020.
— Take more aggressive steps to increase efficiency for appliances and federal buildings, with a goal of reducing carbon dioxide pollution by 3 billion metric tons overall by 2030.
— Develop fuel-economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles.
PREPARE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
— Create a National Drought Resilience Partnership to help communities, farmers and landowners prepare for droughts and wildfires.
— Promote climate change preparedness by creating a toolkit for local governments and businesses, and by partnering with hospitals.
— Update flood risk reduction standards that all federally funded projects must meet.
GLOBAL EFFORTS
— Work with China, India and other major polluting countries to reduce emissions.
— End U.S. public financing for new coal-fired power plants in other countries. Plants in the poorest countries using the most efficient technology available would be exempt.