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RETROSPECTIVE POLICY ANALYSIS OF THE CLEAN POWER ACT 5

Retrospective Policy Analysis of the Clean Power Act

On August 3, 2015, Former President Obama and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Clean Power Plan – a historic and important step in reducing carbon pollution from power plants that take real action on climate change. "The Clean Power Plan is fair, flexible and designed to strengthen the fast-growing trend toward cleaner and lower-polluting American energy. It provides national consistency, accountability, and a level playing field while reflecting each state’s energy mix with strong but achievable standards for power plants, and customized goals for states to cut the carbon pollution that is driving climate change. It also shows the world that the United States is committed to lead global efforts to address climate change" (EPA, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to create an argument map for the Clean Power Act and to assess the overall effectiveness of it.

RETROSPECTIVE POLICY ANALYSIS OF THE CLEAN POWER ACT 3

RETROSPECTIVE POLICY ANALYSIS OF THE CLEAN POWER ACT 6

Figure 1.

Retrospective Policy Analysis of Clean Power Act.

Effectiveness of the Claim

Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units

Given that there had been a recorded trend of anthropogenic climate change, there was the need to combat the factors leading to global warming through lowering the levels of carbon dioxide that was emitted by power generators. The claim is effective because the major contributing factor to the global warming is the high levels of carbon dioxide emissions; it is needful to reduce on the processes that result in the emissions. It is mainly achievable through reducing carbon dioxides emission from electrical power generation.

The plan increases the probability of reducing emissions from coal-burning power plants and increasing energy conversion and the use of renewables. Having individual states come up with means to meet the set standards for the reduction of carbon dioxide ensures the overall emissions are decreased. The challenge with the claim is that not all the parameters and measures to be taken in the plan implementation are clearly defined and accurate. This is because the policy is ambiguous and does not clearly define terms like the Clean Air Act. It is not directly subject to the comprehensive scheme in the Clean Air Act’s

Since the reducing gas emissions from industries means reduced production, there is an opportunity to grow in the solar, energy and wind sector. But the clean power plan will result in loss of many jobs in the industry sector, and this would lead to low incomes and employment that affects the overall state of the country as well as its growth and development following the limited revenue. (El-Keib, 2012) However, this argument is not entirely correct since the policy incorporates a plan to cater for community engagement in rewarding those that invest in wind and solar energies. There is also an evaluation to be conducted to gauge the effects of air pollution on the communities nearby the power plants. (Sueyoshi, 2015)

The plan has an approximation to reduce the pollutants that contribute to soot and smog by up to 25%. Such a reduction will result in net climate benefits as well as many health benefits (Kramer & May, 2014). This would save on families’ expenditure on health and energy bills. The fact that the claim holds against almost all of the objections it proves to be not only beneficial but also highly effective.