May 20, 2014 — The Obama administration issued a scaled-back regulation meant to keep fish from being sucked into the water intakes of factories and power plants, winning support from industry while drawing fire from environmentalists.
The regulation issued yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency specified a range of options that facility operators can use to reduce the 2 billion fish, crab or shrimp that die each year in water intakes. Environmental advocates said that the agency had punted by leaving decisions with state regulators, and they threatened to sue to force tougher action.
“EPA has promulgated a largely worthless rule,” Steve Fleischli, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s water program, said today.
The EPA rule is one of a series of measures from the administration of President Barack Obama that will add costs to run power plants, especially those using coal. That combination of rules, critics say, could drive up electricity costs and force older plants out of business. Many are closing, with 14 gigawatts of coal-fired generation shuttering in 2011 and 2012, and 63 gigawatts set to disappear by 2017 because of regulations and cheap gas, according to an analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Read the full story at Bloomberg Businessweek