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Neb. Farm Bureau criticizes EPA’s Clean Power Plan
The Gerald Gentleman Station coal-fired plant near Sutherland is Nebraska’s largest generating plant.
A spokesman for Nebraska Farm Bureau says the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which has been published in the Federal Register, is bad news for Nebraska agriculture.
The plan aims to dramatically reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants and put more emphasis on wind and solar power. It’s the cornerstone of the Obama’s administration’s efforts to rein in greenhouse gases and slow global warming.
But Farm Bureau’s Jordan Dux says the new regulations will mean higher energy prices for farmers and ranchers.
“Modern agriculture, being energy-intensive, and in Nebraska specifically where you have a lot of farmers that when oil prices—gas prices—went up, they converted those pivots over to electric motors, they’re going to feel this very, very directly,” Dux says.
And when it comes to regulating greenhouse gas emissions, Dux warns the livestock industry could be next.
“We still continue to be concerned that as EPA continues to try to, in their minds, tackle this problem, that they’ll come down to the farm level and try to put those livestock operations under some sort of greenhouse gas regulatory control as well,” he says.
The plan faces many legal challenges. A coalition of 24 states has already launched a lawsuit against the EPA in an effort to block the initiative.
AUDIO: Jordan Dux
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