EPA Regulation of Power Plant Greenhouse Gases Enhances Sustainability Management
Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan aims to have states gradually reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants statewide. Under Obama’s plan, if a state cleans up one plant, it could allow a second plant to continue emitting at higher levels, allowing the state to achieve maximum cleanup at minimum cost. The plan was shelved by the courts, struck down by the Trump administration, and eventually struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022.Court rules EPA has no authority to regulate state Air pollution, but only regulatory power specific source pollute. When the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1970 and first established national ambient air quality standards, its authors realized that new technologies and circumstances would require EPA to regulate pollutants that were unknown in 1970. In 2007, in Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act and directed the EPA to set limits on this newly recognized pollutant. After failing to convince the Supreme Court that a more rational and comprehensive clean power plan would do the trick, the EPA last week issued source-specific greenhouse gas regulations targeting individual power plants.
The Republican attorney general is preparing an appeal, Joe Manchin is throwing a tantrum and won’t vote for any EPA political appointee, and the fossil fuel lobby is preparing a legal attack. I predict all of this will fail as the EPA finally does in 2007 and 2022 what the courts have asked them to do.The court ruled that not only was the EPA authorized to regulate greenhouse gases, but in 2007, the court decided they were necessary Issue regulations. For all the noise and fury, the United States will have eliminated greenhouse gases from fossil fuels by mid-century. Even if the Democrats lose the White House in 2024, the momentum behind decarbonization is unstoppable. This is because the private sector sees the benefits of a lower cost, less polluting and more reliable energy system. The regulation will accelerate the transition, but market forces will eventually lead to renewable energy replacing fossil fuels. Some of the technologies needed to accelerate this transition are still being developed, but they are coming, and nothing Texas politicians try to promote fossil fuels or conservative AGs can do will stop it.
as Coral Davenport noticed on her last week New York Times Report on new EPA regulations:
“In some respects, EPA regulations are designed to accelerate changes already underway in the energy industry. Coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, is dwindling—no new coal plants have been built in the U.S. in the past decade. Meanwhile, wind and solar Costs have dropped dramatically, as has the output of wind turbines and solar panels. more than three times. Wind power now accounts for more than 10% of the country’s electricity generation, and Solar energy now generates about 3% and is growing rapidly.As a result, global warming pollution from power plant smokestacks has down about 25% Over the past decade, there has been no direct regulation. In recent years, many large power companies have announced goals to stop emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2045 or 2050. ”
The right has decided to attack modern management practices in which policymakers consider environmental impacts, the promotion of diversity, corporate governance issues, environmental risk reporting, and community impact. They also aggressively promote fossil fuels, even as companies that use energy resist their use. They say considerations of the environment and diversity have “woke up” capitalism, and see the complex management as some kind of communist conspiracy. This is so stupid. Companies are trying to reduce environmental risk and switch to renewable energy because they rightly believe it will increase their bottom line. I’m not saying that all companies that try to take ESG considerations into account are in a position to do so. There are also some overzealous theorists who advocate ESG principles. However, as with any new management practice, it takes a while to get the hang of it and understand its limitations. A host of new management practices (including accounting in the 1930s) such as total quality management, team management, and performance measurement and management were gradually adjusted and incorporated into organizational management.As a result, modern businesses are more flexible and efficient than their mid-20th-century predecessorsday century.
The SEC’s proposed carbon disclosure rules, subsidies in the Reduce Inflation and Infrastructure Act, and this proposed EPA power plant rule have spurred billions of dollars in investment toward modern, renewable resource-based Economic Transformation. As with any technological and economic transition, it is poorly understood by many and feared by those who see their interests at stake. When New York City lost its manufacturing base, many thought the city would die. Instead, it replaced the old economy with a brain-based service economy, perhaps best symbolized by the High Line, a freight train track turned tourist attraction. Despite the pain of a generation-long economic transformation, New York remains a thriving city. What we do know about these transitions is that they are hard to stop. In a free market, capitalist system, most incentives favor innovation and the rapid spread of new technologies. These practices often threaten environmental quality. We see this in the chemical industry. But an energy transition is underway that will help mitigate global warming. The transition may be delayed by political reactionaries, but it will not be stopped.
New technologies and more sophisticated management techniques are constantly being developed to help cope with our more complex, interdependent world economy. Political movements such as xenophobia, anti-globalism, and America First will persist, but with limited impact. Global communication, information and travel technologies are enabling economic, cultural and social interconnectedness to grow. These global interactions benefit individuals, families and companies. Globalism is not a trend, nor is it a conspiracy imposed by George Soros and some hidden elite. It is a mass movement of individuals and corporations acting in what they perceive to be their self-interest.
They are spurred in part by the problems that new technologies make possible in this complex new world. Scientists and engineers are working hard to improve solar cells. They are using nanotechnology to reduce size and cost while increasing efficiency. AI and robotics are being used to enhance recycling and waste extraction, and reduce waste of fertilizers, pesticides and water in agriculture. Somewhere in the world, a pair of teenagers are working in a basement, researching a breakthrough that will revolutionize battery technology. Alongside these engineering techniques, management experts and social scientists are learning more about how we can be more productive as we interact with each other in organizational settings. Data-driven management, enhanced employee rights, employee performance review systems, and increased focus on turnover and morale are not random or rare occurrences. They are central elements of complex, successful modern management. The same is true for considering an organization’s impact on its natural environment and surrounding communities. When I teach a graduate course in management, I use Donald Trump’s classic line from The Apprentice: “You’re fired” as an example of bad management. If you need to fire someone, either your hiring practices are flawed or your process for training and developing employees needs improvement. Likewise, if a company ignores the cost and environmental impact of its energy sources or favors existing sources out of fear or habit, it is likely to miss other opportunities to improve performance.
Most American companies are adopting sustainable development management, as well as various new production and management techniques. The constant search for improvement is why our economy is constantly innovating and producing. The Biden administration’s carbon disclosure and greenhouse gas regulation initiatives are reinforcing and legitimizing these best practices. The trends are so strong that no amount of political intervention can overturn them. Politicians can shout “wake up” all they want, and sustainable development management is here to stay.
