By 2030, the EPA's “Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule” looks to reduce U.S. carbon emissions from power plants to 30 percent below 2005 levels. The plan is a linchpin of the ambitious U.S.-China climate goals announced this week that look to tackle climate change on an international level in the coming decades. It's also a lightning rod for critics and supporters of President Obama's climate policies. Experts say the plan could work, and cost effectively, if states create regional carbon trading programs, allowing states with heavy carbon output to pay low carbon states to take some of their emissions. Some 1.5 million comments on the EPA's plan have already been filed — and it's still more than two weeks before the Dec. 1 deadline for feedback.
