“The regulation announced by the EPA effectively bans coal from America’s power portfolio,” said NMA CEO Hal Quinn, “leaving new power plants equipped with even the most efficient and environmentally advanced technologies out in the cold.”

By forcing plants to abandon America’s “most reliable source of affordable electricity,” added Quinn, the EPA is “recklessly gambling with the nation’s energy and economic future; the risk will be raised if this new source standard is applied to existing power plants next year.”

Moreover, the result will be a risky reliance on less diverse and more volatile power sources, according to Quinn; higher utility bills for households and businesses coupled with job losses for workers, he noted, will be the likely result within “arbitrary standards based on unproven technologies.”

“The more responsible course is to base standards on the best-in-class technology available today,” said Quinn. “This would ensure the reliability of electricity supply allowing power companies to replace older, less efficient plants with newer, more efficient ones.”