administrator gina mccarthy said the stakes are too great to wait to address climate change. >> power plants are the single largest source of carbon pollution. new power plants, both natural gas and coal-fired, can minimize th eir carbon emissions by taking advantage of available modern technology. these technologies offer them a clear pathway forward today and in the long term. >> sreenivasan: under the proposed rules, new power plants would have to install technology to capture and store carbon emissions. natural gas plants would be limited to one-thousand pounds of c.o.-2 per megawatt hour. while coal-fired plants would be limited to 1,100 pounds per megawatt hour. to put that in context, the most efficient plants running today emit about 1,800 pounds. but the guidelines would not affect existing plants, which will be dealt with in a separate proposal next year. last year coal-fired plants were responsible for about a third of america's energy-related carbon dioxide emissions and they supplied 37% of america's power. but nearly all climate scientists say c.o.-2 helps trap heat in e

in a speech at the national press club, epa administrator gina mccarthy says the emission standards can be achieved with homegrown technology. >> we are very confident that the carbon pollution standards we are proposing today for new power plants are both flexible and achievable. they pave a path forward for the next generation of power plants in this country. >> the epa goal is to cap carbon dioxide emissions at 1100 pounds of co2 per mega wall street hour of power produced. that's about 40% less on average than an existing coal fired plant. the utility industry says that standard can't be met without cost and technology to capture and store carbon emissions. >> they are trying to make standards based on highly speculative technology that would not even be applicable for the great majority of power plants in the u.s. today. >> this coal fired power plant in kemper county, mississippi, due to go online next may, could be the first one worldwide to use carbon capture and storage technology. cost overruns have pushed the price tag to $4.7 billion, nearly $2 billion more than original pro

it's been held that they do have the right to regulate carbon emissions in the atmosphere and gina mccarthy, the new e.p.a. administrator, has a plan to do that. president in copenhagen tried to get an agreement to set up a finance facility. the problem is they have to come up with the money up front and then the benefits are free and the energy is free. so he tried to do that. i think the world bank is going to take the lead on that now and i think they'll be -- the united states will have a chance to do that. a lot of states have got good laws. it's very interesting. texas condemn this is but they produce more than electricity from wind than all but six countries in the world. and they act like it's a bad deal but actually it's a good deal. so it's very interesting to see who's part of this and who's not i'm trying to get puerto rico which has a cost of 36 cents a kilowatt hour which is -- new york's the highest price in america. 13.39. that's kilowatt hour costs. all the caribbean countries are between 61 cents including the virgin islands which means we can install solar and wind withou

gina mccarthy was already familiar with the agency she now has. she served since 2009 is epa's assistant administrator for air and radiation. despite a background that included reading efforts on environmental issues for republican governors in massachusetts and connecticut, our guest today could only muster six republican votes in the senate for confirmation. that may not be surprising given she is the point person to carry out president obama's pledge from his second inaugural address to quote, respond to the threat of climate change, knowing failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. to many senators that was the president's latest articulation of a so-called horror on costs and economies of state to depend on production and use to generate nearly 40% of the nation's electricity. on june 25th, president obama double down, directing epa to issue by today, regulations to address the emission of greenhouse gases from new coal and natural gas fired power plants. the intense of the expected backlash to the proposal was on dis

administrator gina mccarthy to support these proposed standards. just look at the evidence of what carbon pollution is doing to our planet. according to news articles, the intergovernmental panel on climate change or ipcc will soon announce it is now more certain than ever that human activity is the main cause of the recent climate changes we have seen. this may surprise some of my republican colleagues who have tried pointing to a recent slowdown in surface department as -- temperature as evidence that climate change has stopped. according to the ipcc, this phase is, unfortunately, only temporary. as other slowdowns have been in the past. if you look at the history of global warming and of temperature, you can see that across time you can add steps in because of the variability that is inherent in our climate. but nobody could look at that and not see the constant rising thread that runs through it. no regression analysis, to use the technical term, would not show that global warming is real and the fact that we are at a step is, well, here's what

asking unanimous consent to put the letter of our attorney general from nebraska -- his letter to gina mccarthyin a white paper that was done with other a.g.'s into the record. >> without objection. >> the date of the letter of september 11, 2013. it's particularly ms. mccarthy important to note that our attorney general is involved in this because a it's an impact to our state but we are a public power states so he is the lawyer in essence for public power states or a public power generators. they have the concert and for the rules that are being promulgated. i know they aren't finalized yet but nonetheless in regard to coal as a new fuel we have old coal-fired plants that probably aren't going to -- they are going to be able to adhere to the new rules of the issue is can we build new plants with coal since we are only a couple hundred miles from the powder river basin and this is by far the prominent feedstock for our generators. he has a question and i have the same question and that is, does the epa believe that it has the legal authority to eliminate coal as a fuel for new electrical gener

gina mccarthy was already familiar with the agency she now heads.she served as the epa assistant administrator for air and radiation. despite a background including leading efforts on environmental issues for republican governors in massachusetts and connecticut , our guest today could only muster six republican votes in the senate for her confirmation. that may not be surprising giving she is the point person to carry out president obama's pledge from his second inaugural address to "respond to the threat of climate change knowing that failure to do so would betray our children and future generations." to many, that was the residence latest articulation of a so- called war on coal and the economies of states that depend on it production and use to generate nearly 40% of the nation's electricity. president obama doubled down directing the epa to issue, by today, regulations to address the omission of greenhouse gases from new coal and natural gas fired plants and the expected backlash to the proposal was on display when our speaker appeared before a

rate give a warm national press club welcome to environmental protection agency administrator, gina mccarthy. [applause] >> well thank you, angela. through theg wait confirmation prices but, boy, was it worth it to get to be in this position and work for and on behalf of the american public and the great people at epa. it is a wonderful agency and i am really out to be where i am today. ialso want to tell you that thought six republican votes was pretty good. [laughter] maybe that's just me. i worked hard for those six of those. rod, thank you for the work you did putting this together and thank you, head table, for being assembled. good morning, it is great to be here and i appreciate you coming as well. less than three months ago, president obama stood outside in sweltering heat to unveil a new national plan to confront the growing threat of climate change. opinion, one in my of the most important speeches of his presidency. i will admit that i am a little biased. in those 45 minutes, the president laid out not only a vision but a plan for protecting our kids and their families from pollut

reporter: jenna, this long anticipated regulation was finally announced today by epa administrator gina mccarthytalists as a major move toward a lasting renewable energy policy it is being condemned by opponents as a nail in the coffin for the u.s. coal-fired power industry and perhaps natural gas plants of the future. it would require all future power plants meet a new limit of only 1100-pound of carbon dioxide pure megawatt hour. mccarthy believes that is achievable. >> so the single largest source of carbon pollution, new power plants, both natural pass and coal-fired, can minimize their carbon emissions by taking advantage of available modern technology. >> reporter: but the coal industry says that's an impossible standard because the tech log to capture and star carbon in the ground as would be required is not commercially feasible. mccarthy's announcement met with an avalanche of criticism from industry, business and manufacturing groups as well as republican opponents. senator john barrasso's statement typical of the kind of criticism we're seeing. quoting now, sacrificing more and more c

epa administrator gina mccarthy made the announcement at the national press club.the regulations will cause coal plants to close, kill jobs and ultimately raise energy costs. molly henneberg is in washington covering this for us. what exactly are the new restrictions that the obama administration are putting on these coal plants, molly? >> reporter: martha, they're new standards for natural gas and coal fired power plants but it will hit the coal industry much harder which is why it likely will be so controversial. currently the average coal plant emits, on average, 176pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour. the new rules would cut that significantly, to 1100-pound of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour. epa administrator gina mcchart think says this is important step forward in a long clean energy journey. >> these proposed standard are the first uniform national limit on carbon pollution from new power plants. they do not apply to existing power plants. >> reporter: but new standard for existing coal plants will be coming, she says, next year. martha? martha: th

gina mccarthy will be at the national press club to talk about climate change. that is that 9:00 eastern on c- span two. also, at 10:00, the house education sub or force committee was a hearing on technical education and training programs. then president obama travels to a ford auto plant in kansas city to talk about the auto industry and the economy. you can see that at 1:45 p.m. eastern. china's foreign minister will be at the brookings institution to talk about u.s.-china relations. >> c-span, we bring public affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, reefing zen conferences and offering complete dabble to gavel coverage of the u.s. house , all as a public service of private industry. we are c-span, created by the cable industry 33 years ago and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. >> members of the house oversight committee are continuing to look into last year's attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, that killed four americans. today, they heard from leaders o

. >> next, the administrator of the epa gina mccarthy talk about limiting carbon pollution for new powerour. >> good morning and welcome to the national press club. my name is angela. i'm a reporter for bloomberg and the 106th president of the national press club. we are the world's leading professional organization for journalists committed to our profession's future through programming with events such as this while fostering a free press worldwide. for more information, please visit our website at www.pre programs donate to through the national journalism institute, also visit press.org/ institute. on behalf of members worldwide, i would like to welcome our speaker and those of you in the audience today. the head table includes guests of our speaker as well as working journalists who are club members. if you hear applause, members of the general public are also attending so it's not a lack ofy journalistic objectivity. i would also like to welcome the c-span and public radio audiences. you can follow the action today on twitter using #npclunch. after the speaker concludes, we will hav

please help me give a warm national press club welcome to the epa administrator gina mccarthy. [applause] [applause] >> well, thank you, angela. i will tell you that was a long wait through the confirmation process, but was it worth it to get to be in this position and to work for those on the behalf of the american public and the great people at the epa. it is a wonderful agency and i am so proud to be where i am today. i also want to tell you that i thought this was pretty good. maybe that's just me. [laughter] i want to thank you for all the work needed putting this together. thank you to the head table for being assembled today. good morning, everyone. it is great to be here and i appreciate your coming. less than three months ago, president obama stood outside in sweltering heat to unveil a new national plan to confront the growing threat of climate change. he delivered, in my opinion, one of the most important speeches of his presidency. i will admit that i am a little bit biased. but in those 45 minutes, the president laid out not only a vision, but a plan for protecting