INSTITUTE INDEX: Southern politicians fight EPA carbon limits as states burn
The John E. Amos coal-fired power plant in West Virginia could be required to curb emissions under the EPA's Clean Power Plan, but the state is leading the charge to scuttle the new rules even though its residents are at high risk from a warming climate. (Photo of the Amos plant by Quinn Dombrowski via Flickr.)
Date on which the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled the final version of its Clean Power Plan requiring states to cut climate-warming carbon emissions from power plants: 8/3/2015
Percent by which the EPA rules aim to cut carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2030: 32
Estimated number of premature deaths the Clean Power Plan will prevent: up to 3,600
Number of states where the attorneys general are petitioning a federal court to block the new EPA rules: 15
Of those 15 states, number in the South: 6
Date by which the petition seeks a ruling: 9/8/2015
Rank of coal-dependent West Virginia among states leading the charge against the rules: 1
Rank of the West Virginia state capital of Charleston among the 10 U.S. cities expected to face the most dangerous heat and humidity days by 2050: 1
Number of "danger days" Charleston can expect by then: 168
Rank of Asheville, North Carolina among the cities expected to face the most "danger days" by 2050: 2
Date on which North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said his administration also plans to mount a legal challenge to the Clean Power Plan: 8/3/2015
Percent of North Carolina voters who say they support the Clean Power Plan: 63
Of the six states expected to experience the most heat danger days by 2050, number in the South: 6
Number of states where the attorneys general are opposing the challenge to the EPA rule: 14
Of those 14 states, number in the South: 0
(Click on figure to go to source.)
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the former editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.