US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy used an appearance in Salt Lake City Friday to advocate for the Obama Administration’s proposed clean power plan.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy was speaking at a women’s luncheon organized by the League of United Latin American Citizens. She said there is no greater risk to our health, our economy, or our way of life than global climate change.
“This is not about polar bears, folks. It’s about your children, and your children’s future,” McCarthy said. “We have to act because anything else is simply not acceptable. So that’s why this summer, EPA will deliver on a major piece of President’s Obama agenda; we are going to finalize our clean power plan.”
The plan is designed to limit the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change from power plants. Speaking to KUER after her appearance, McCarthy said the EPA is setting a target for 2030, but they will leave it up to the states to determine how to achieve the new standards. “We don’t care how you do it, as long as you get there, and so the state needs to ask itself, what do you want your state to look like by 2030, how do you want this to work?”
In the process of addressing climate change, McCarthy says the state of Utah has an opportunity to improve local air quality. She says Utah has been a partner in helping to implement improved fuel standards known as Tier 3. She’s hoping the state will be a good partner on clean power as well.
