President Obama is said to soon announce plans to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from the nation's power plants by an average of 30 percent from 2005 levels. This proposal "will permit states to achieve the reductions in climate-warming pollutants by promoting renewable energy, encouraging greater use of natural gas, embracing energy efficiency technologies or joining carbon trading markets."

The US has been at the forefront in terms of articulating the importance of environmental protection even amidst growing concerns and counter-arguments raised by many developing countries. The underlying notion is economic growth itself is not sustainable if it is not accompanied by eco-friendly or eco-conscious development efforts, which is nowadays being widely believed irrespective of development stages of each country.

This issue is still controversial even within the US as cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants may cause immediate commercial losses to firms coupled with job losses to many workers in the existing power plants. On the contrary, proponents of this plan argue at the incremental costs will be minimal and that more jobs will be created in the renewable energy and clean energy sectors. Evidently, the Republicans and Democrats stand for extreme opposites on this issue, which reflects how difficult it might be to forge a quick consensus nationwide.

Apart from an economic perspective, a key aspect in contemplating this issue is the fact that the planet is not only for the current generation but also for future generations. If economic growth is pursued at the expense of environmental sustainability and thus the healthy and sound lives of future generations, the latter effect could ultimately outweigh the former. This is why the good cause of President Obama's new plan to curb emissions from power plants should resonate in the minds of business men and consumers alike. 

News article link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-02/obama-said-to-propose-deep-cuts-to-power-plant-emissions.html