Obama Announces First-Ever Limits on Greenhouse Gas Production

For the first time, power plants will be held accountable for their hand in greenhouse gas pollution. On Monday, President Obama announced a federal limit on the amount of greenhouse gas plants are permitted to produce—a historic ruling, indeed.

From The Hill:

“ The rule is the cornerstone of Obama’s climate agenda, and administration officials have called it a crucial step to build momentum toward an international climate agreement in Paris this December.”

Enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency, the rule dictates that all power producers must reduce their carbon emissions to “32 percent below what they were a decade ago by 2030.”

Republicans are, of course, outraged, because when are they not? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has been very busy trying to witch the United States into Victorian England, claims, “These regulations would likely mean fewer jobs, shuttered power plants, and higher electricity costs for families and business…I will not sit by while the White House takes aim at the lifeblood of [Kentucky’s] economy.”

Totally, Mitch. Let’s just take aim at the ozone layer instead!

But on the other side of the aisle, prospects look rosier. Hillary Clinton, current front-runner in the Democratic presidential campaign, supports this new regulation, and she “[pledges] to protect it if she is elected.”

One would think that preserving our planet would not be basis for debate. After all, there’s little margin for error, and we probably don’t want to turn Earth into a festering pile of garbage.

Said President Obama, “We only get one home. We only get one planet. There is no plan B.”