The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a major new greenhouse gas reduction initiative in June 2014 through the release of its proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for Existing Power Plants. Better known as the Clean Power Plan (CPP), EPA outlined a proposal that would seek an overall reduction in emissions from existing electricity-generating facilities that would fall 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, with interim targets beginning in 2020. This built on existing federal regulatory strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and newly-proposed electricity generating facilities.
This significant climate policy initiative was included in the National Surveys on Energy and Environment for the first time in our Fall 2014 survey, placed into a larger instrument that explored other policy questions and ongoing analysis of public attitudes on climate change. We attempted to secure public views on the general merits of the Clean Power Plan as well as test support for a number of the more prominent policy options that states have been encouraged to consider in weighing compliance possibilities. Other important findings from the Fall 2014 survey will be presented in subsequent reports.