August 6, 2015

Mixed Reviews for Obama's Climate Change Plan Featuring Tony Buxton and Todd Griset

Tony Buxton and Todd Griset are quoted in the Bangor Daily News article on President Barack Obama's climate change announcement. The Environmental Protection Agency just released the final version of its Clean Power Plan, which proposes a more than 30 percent decrease in 2005 levels of carbon pollution from power plants by the year 2030.

Excerpt:

Tony Buxton, an energy lobbyist for Preti Flaherty, said Obama’s proposal is great news for New England, which he said consumes more than 80 percent of the nation’s heating oil.

“It will save money and lower emissions on the electricity generation side and will also help us get off oil for home heating,” said Buxton, who has long been a proponent of renewable energy. “What the president is asking us to do is something that is completely in our interest.”

Todd Griset, a partner at Preti Flaherty, said Obama’s plan could face problems if states opt out of it, even though the EPA would then impose federal rules on states in that event. He said some congressional Republicans have urged states to ignore the Clean Power Plan.

“States are in a difficult dynamic when they’re getting different signals,” he said.