Markell promotes clean power plan

• Markell said Delaware has cleaned up the dirtiest power plants%2C increased solar technology%2C spurred more than %24100 million in efficiency upgrades
• Other EPA hearings were being held in Atlanta%2C Ga.%2C Denver and Pittsburgh.
• The agency will continue to accept written comments on the rule until October 16

WASHINGTON – Gov. Jack Markell said Tuesday success in Delaware helps prove that the Obama administration's plan to cut carbon emissions will promote health, research, jobs and cheaper energy across the nation.

"Over the past five years, we've shifted from one of the dirtiest energy mixes in the nation to one of the cleanest," Markell, a Democrat, said during an Environmental Protection Agency hearing on the agency's emission-reduction plan. "We have decreased emissions by a greater percentage than any other state while creating jobs at the same time. And we have done so with the same approach that the president proposes for the country."

The EPA's "Clean Power Plan" seeks to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants, the largest source of such pollution in the U.S., by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Opponents of the proposed rule say it will increase energy prices and cost jobs. But Markell, speaking at one of four two-day hearings the agency is holding this week on the rule, said the opposite is true.

Hundreds of people are working in Dover to build a natural gas power-generating facility for Calpine Energy, which is transitioning away from power plants that produce the most emissions, he said. The shift is good for the environment and the company's bottom line, he said.

"Facilities like the one in Dover will produce cost-effective energy that reduces energy bills while making our state more attractive to manufacturers," he said.

Also testifying in support of the rule was Delaware's former environmental chief, Collin O'Mara, in his new role as president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.

O'Mara, former secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said the proposed rule could be strengthened if it is found to replicate aggressive state programs that promote energy efficiency. The EPA also should set higher targets for energy generated by renewable sources, he said.

"As technology and deployment prices continue to decrease, many states have already, or will soon, surpass the level of renewable energy generation the EPA assumed they wouldn't meet until 2020," said O'Mara, who still lives in Delaware.

Other EPA hearings were being held in Atlanta, Ga., Denver and Pittsburgh. The agency will continue to accept written comments on the rule until October 16.

Markell said after the hearing that the EPA's plan "really focuses on the things that we think are important around efficiency, around fuel switching."

Markell later spoke at a rally outside the EPA building with more than 250 climate activists, drawing loud applause while speaking of Delaware's shift to a cleaner energy mix.

He said Delaware has cleaned up the dirtiest power plants, increased solar technology, spurred more than $100 million in efficiency upgrades across the state and worked with other states to cut carbon pollution through a market-based system.

"EPA's plan will stimulate more of this activity across the country, giving states the opportunity to use solutions that work best for us and recognizing the same solutions that are best for Delaware are not necessarily best for West Virginia or Wyoming," Markell said.

More than 250 people attended the rally, which was organized by a coalition of environmental groups known informally as the Climate Action Campaign.

Contact Nicole Gaudiano at ngaudiano@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ngaudiano.