State Plan For Meeting EPA Carbon Pollution Under Scrutiny
DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado's plan for meeting new EPA rules for carbon pollution is already under scrutiny and it's not even written yet.
The proposed EPA rules require a 30 percent reduction in carbon pollution by 2030.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has to develop a plan by next year for meeting that goal.
Republican senators recently introduced a bill that would require the legislature and Public Utilities Commission to review the state plan before its implemented.
"This ensures not only that the plan is vetted and meets the approval of two branches of government, but also that state senators and representatives that Coloradans elect to represent them at the capitol can review the plan and have confidence when they return home to their districts that the plan we file for our state has best interests of constituent consumers at heart," said State Sen. John Cooke, a Republican who represents Weld County.
Becky Long of the group Conservation Colorado said she doesn't think the bill is needed.
"We think it's a political effort to slow the process down and try to derail Colorado actually tackling source pollution from carbon power plants," Long said.
More than 60 percent of Colorado's energy comes from coal.
The bill passed out of committee on Thursday.
