The following editorial, written by New Hampshire Sierra Club Director Catherine Corkery, appeared in the Laconia Citizen on March 31, 2016.
Supreme Court Critical for Climate Solutions
In an unusual intervention, the U.S. Supreme Court disappointingly granted a stay of the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, and in doing so, temporarily set aside the lifesaving health protections and clean energy economic growth that will come from reducing the power plant carbon pollution that contributes to climate change.
The stay permits states to pause implementation of the Clean Power Plan, but does not bar them from moving forward. The Clean Power Plan rests on a strong foundation of law; in fact, the Supreme Court has previously ruled that the EPA has an obligation to protect public health from the dangers of carbon pollution. Despite this temporary setback, New Hampshire leaders should not allow legal battles in Washington to prevent them from ensuring a safer clean energy future for our families with the Clean Power Plan.
Why? Because we already know the Clean Power Plan in New Hampshire. It is based on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI, used here and in eight other states to invest in clean power and energy efficiency programs for residential, municipal, school and business buildings. RGGI has saved New Hampshire families and taxpayers millions of dollars for almost a decade. RGGI helps to cover the large upfront costs of weatherization for low income residents and others who qualify.
Larger buildings, like schools and businesses, are much more efficient now, because funds are there to help bridge the gap that would otherwise waste money and energy.
The Clean Power Plan brings RGGI nationwide by setting the first ever federal limits on carbon pollution from power plants, and encourages investments in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency. And it does so in a way that is achievable. After years of meetings, millions of comments worth of feedback and public hearings, the EPA designed the Clean Power Plan to allow states maximum flexibility and significant time to develop customized plans to meet their pollution reduction goals. These new standards couldn’t come soon enough. Climate change has a direct impact on our health, our safety, our wallets and our communities.
According to EPA estimates, the Clean Power Plan will prevent up to 3,600 premature deaths, lead to 90,000 fewer asthma attacks in children and prevent 300,000 missed work and school days by 2030.
Climate change also impacts our economy. In addition to the obvious infrastructure damage of extreme weather events, clean energy projects can build our economy. The Clean Power Plan will reap up to $54 billion per year in 2030 in public health and climate benefits, and create more than 274,000 new energy efficiency jobs nationwide.
A recent report stated that states with energy efficiency standards in place, like Maine and Massachusetts, will save around $14 per month per household. While our state is part of RGGI, New Hampshire does not have an energy efficiency standard, and we could stand to save over $20 per month, almost $250 a year.
Pressing pause on more clean energy projects and a stronger electric grid does nothing to encourage investment and growth in our economy. That hasn’t stopped the industry and their allies from doing everything they can to dismantle these public health and environmental safeguards. Our legislators were put to the test just a few weeks back in the State House when they rejected a climate denier’s bill that would have stopped New Hampshire from shifting to the Clean Power Plan.
That’s why many states, like New Hampshire, have redoubled their commitment to implementing plans to reduce carbon pollution under the Clean Power Plan: it makes smart economic sense. States recognize that clean energy is the future, and that waiting around to invest in a clean energy economy, and the jobs that come with it, could be costly in the long run. With so much at risk — and so much to gain — New Hampshire leaders are on the right track.
In truth, industry isn’t waiting around, either. Businesses and utilities alike are already investing in solar, wind and energy efficiency. This isn’t altruism; it’s pragmatism: the electricity sector has embarked on an unstoppable shift from its high-pollution, fossil-fueled past to a safer, clean-powered future and no court decision can reverse that trend.
Lower prices for renewable energy are partly responsible for driving this transition, and smart industry, financial and governmental leaders take advantage of the opportunity to incorporate new strategies and public policies that will accommodate and accelerate this shift.
Our state motto — Live Free or Die — could not apply more. I am glad to see New Hampshire responsibly moving forward to address climate risks with solutions that will encourage economic growth, safeguard public health and protect the only planet we have. New Hampshire needs more solar, efficiency, weatherization and clean energy.There’s no excuse for delay.
Catherine M. Corkery is the chapter director and field organizer for the New Hampshire Sierra Club.