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President Obama’s Climate Change Action Plan Brief Sheet

Published February 2014

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The essentials

  • In June, 2013 President Obama released his Climate Action Plan.
  • The Plan has three broad categories.
    • First, reducing U.S. carbon emissions.  The President’s plan sets goals to reduce emissions from existing power plants, modernize the U.S. transportation sector, increase the U.S. clean energy portfolio, and increase energy efficiency in American homes and businesses.
    • Second, preparing the U.S. for the impacts of climate change. This is done by supporting climate-resilient investments, responding to major weather events, creating sustainable and resilient hospitals, maintaining agriculture productivity, and providing the tools for climate resilience.
    • Finally, engaging the world’s major economies to advance key climate priorities and in galvanizing global action through international climate negotiations.
  • What does this mean for Arizona?
    • It is hard to predict the full ramifications of the President’s climate action plan for any given state.  Arizona’s utilities and energy regulators will have to plan based on new federal regulations, such as the EPA’s current proposed caps on carbon emissions for new power plants.  Additionally, Arizona could see more federal funds become available to support sustainable agriculture or solar power.  As of now, the exact cost-benefit may be impossible to gauge.