Indiana and carbon emissions – how will they reduce?

With Indiana getting over 80 percent of its energy from coal-fired plants, its of no surprise that state governor Mike Pence is developing plans to rally against a national initiative to battle global warming.  Pence joins forces with business leaders arguing that if power plants are forced to reduce carbon emissions, the state of Indiana will consequently face higher electricity rates and unemployment rates will increase.

Pence and Co argue that Obama’s plans are too difficult to implement given Indiana’s reliance on coal-fired power plants, and claim the state would struggle to reduce carbon emissions by up to 20 percent as its reliance on coal is more than twice the national average.  Targets proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency outline that plants in Indiana, which produced 1,923 pounds of carbon pollution per megawatt hour of electricity in 2012, will need to reduce outgoings by around 400 megawatts per hour by 2030.

To echo EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy’s sentiments regarding flexibility, we hope the state of Indiana can come up with an innovative way to reduce greenhouse gases without jeopardizing jobs and increasing energy costs for its residents because participation from all areas of the U.S. – and the glove – is essential.