Dive Brief:

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy said that President Obama may announce the EPA's new carbon emissions standards for existing power plants himself.
• If the president does choose to take this largely unprecedented step, it would send a clear message to supporters and detractors alike that the White House is firmly committed to the policy.
• The EPA later said the president has yet to confirm such an undertaking and that the new rule's roll-out was still undetermined.

Dive Insight:

The coming emissions rules are the cornerstone of the Obama administration's energy policy. Opponents, including Republicans, utility industry leaders and some Democrats, say that the yet-to-be-finalizd standards amount to a declaration of a "war on coal" that will hurt the U.S. economy. 

The EPA has indicated that it will allow states to take the lead in ensuring state-wide compliance with the new rules, rather than targeting individual plants.

"I want to let everyone know that EPA has been working really hard to understand how we can make this rule both aggressive in terms of the amount of reductions it can achieve, as well as make it implementable and reasonable for every state to participate," McCarthy said.