• A ground-breaking Natural Resources Defense Council proposal on how to cut carbon pollution from America's power plants can achieve even greater reductions than previously thought, and at less cost, an updated analysis of NRDC's initial 2012 plan shows.
• NRDC's new analysis finds that that 470 to 700 million tons of carbon pollution can be eliminated per year in 2020 compared to 2012 levels, equivalent to the emissions from 95 to 130 million autos. At the same time, the NRDC approach would yield $28 billion to $63 billion in health and environmental benefits that far outweigh the costs of putting first-ever limits on carbon pollution.
• By comparison, NRDC's 2012 analysis put those numbers at 270 million tons and $25-60 billion.
• The improved outcomes result from updating the 2012 approach to reflect recent trends in the electricity industry, including lower electricity demand than previously expected and reduced costs for wind turbines, and natural gas.