Nixon’s comments to EPA suggest carbon rule tweaks
Missouri should have more time to reach carbon dioxide reduction targets called for in proposed federal rules, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said in comments on the regulations obtained by the Post-Dispatch.
Comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions at power plants are due Dec. 1, and government agencies, advocacy groups and citizens have already submitted some 22,000 of them.
The submitted comments from Nixon, a Democrat, are some of the first utterances his administration has made about the controversial carbon rules. When they were first announced June 2, his office said only they would review them.
By contrast, outgoing Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in Illinois praised the proposed regulations soon after their release.
But the comments, signed Nov. 21 by Nixon, still take no strong position on the proposal. Instead, they offer more technical suggestions on implementation.
Like many industry groups, Nixon said he was concerned about “aggressive” 2020 interim carbon dioxide reduction targets.
“As presently proposed, the rules require that by 2020 Missouri achieve 62 percent of the 2030 emissions reduction goal, yet our state implementation plan would be approved no earlier than 2017,” according to Nixon’s comments.
