Trying to Break the U.S. Energy System for Its Own Good

The White House doesn't want anyone to panic over its new climate rules. Instead of marking a big shift, the Obama team believes the Clean Power Plan is piggybacking on trends already under way in the economy: Natural gas is killing off coal; solar and wind are cheaper than ever; state-level renewable energy and climate policies are spreading. Americans won't feel a thing.

That's why the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, in her first public appearance since the release of the climate plan, emphasized that the rules wouldn't cause a disruption for energy companies. "I don't expect that the energy industry is going to take a right turn," Gina McCarthy said last week.