ATS staff presented comments at an EPA field hearing regarding the proposed Revision to the Greenhouse Gas Standards for New, Modified, and Reconstructed Coal‐fired Electric Utility Generating Units.  In his comments, staff member Gary Ewart, noted the ATS’s opposition to the EPA’s proposal to increase permissible carbon pollution emissions from new or modified coal-fired power plants.  , Mr. Ewart noted, “EPA must send a strong and unambiguous signal to the energy sector and the U.S. economy at large, that we must quickly transition to less carbon intense forms of energy production.”

Mr. Ewart also expressed concern that the proposed rule seemed to be creating a rationale for challenging the EPA greenhouse gas (GHG) “endangerment finding.” The “endangerment finding”, signed during the Obama Administration, is an important regulatory document that expresses the EPA’s opinion that GHG emissions are dangerous pollutants and expresses the EPA’s authority to regulate GHGs as air pollutants.