Blumenthal Statement On EPA Announcement Of Higher Emmissions Standards For New Power Plants

(Hartford, CT) – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) issued the following statement in response to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy’s announcement of new emissions standards for future power plants:

“I applaud the President and EPA for taking meaningful action to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change. Requiring coal-fired power plants to cut emissions by half is essential to protecting our health and environment. Superstorm Sandy and other severe weather events that have struck Connecticut in the past few years are a warning of what is to come if the federal government does not push to pass laws that improve energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

“Already in summer of 2012, Connecticut’s Millstone Nuclear Power Plant was forced to temporarily suspend two of its reactors because the Long Island Sound water needed to cool the reactors was too warm. The Long Island Sound’s lobster population has also suffered due, in significant part, to rising ocean temperatures resulting in declining catches and profits for the state’s shellfish industry.

“I strongly support the new emissions standards, and urge my colleagues in Congress to advocate for legislation that further reduces our country’s carbon footprint.”