The utility industry, legal community, environmental organizations, analysts and other stakeholders are eagerly awaiting the EPA’s new guidelines for reducing carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act for existing power plants. The rule is scheduled to be announced June 2nd.

President Obama has acted aggressively to bypass congress on climate change legislation by using the EPA’s regulatory authority in enforcing the Clean Air Act. The agency already proposed new standards for newly-constructed plants – the comment period closed May 9 – but making cuts at existing plants that currently contribute the largest share of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions offers a greater opportunity to move the US climate action needle.

Indeed, the president’s energy and climate chief John Podesta recently called the EPA’s existing power plant regulations the “Crown Jewel” of President Obama’s climate action strategy.

“There is no silver bullet to going carbon free overnight. We have to keep pushing for the best outcome.” – Counselor to President Obama, John Podesta, addressing the audience at Columbia University’s Center for Global Energy Policy on May 8, 2014