Alaska will be exempt from new federal rules aimed at cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she got word Monday in a phone call from EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
The rule requires other states to eliminate about a third of the carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 2030. Murkowski told the EPA administrator at a hearing in April the target was impossible for Alaska, in part because the state’s electric grid is so limited.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.