JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida will have to continue to cut down on greenhouse gasses under a new federal plan announced Monday by President Barack Obama.
Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency hope the Clean Power Plan cuts carbon emissions by 32 percent in the next 15 years.
"I am convinced that no challenge poses a greater threat to our future and future generations than a changing climate and that is what brings us here today," Obama said. "This is one of those rare issues, because of its magnitude, because of its scope, if we don't get it right, we may not be able to reverse."
Environmentalists in Florida are praising the effort.
"We really need this to help the state of Florida," environmentalist Eric Draper of Audubon Florida said.
Draper said action against climate change -- a heavily debated topic experts say is causing water to rise -- is needed now.
"Climate change threatens us so significantly because we're a low-lying state and sea-level rise is going to do some significant damage to Florida," Draper said. "The good news is that Florida is ready for this plan. Already our utilities have done a good job of cleaning out our carbon impacts on the environment."
Two of the coal power plants that will be affected by the new rules are on the Northside of Jacksonville.
JEA said the first thing it will do regarding the power plants is review the report coming from the EPA.
DOCUMENT: Statement from JEA on Clean Power Plan
JEA relies heavily on coal and petroleum coke, which is another solid fuel, to power the two plants on the Northside. But those fuels also emit lots of carbon dioxide.
The St. Johns Power Park is a joint venture with Florida Power and Light.
The utilities will be waiting on state guidelines to find out what steps will have to be taken to bring the power plants in line and reduce emissions.
But one JEA official said he knows lots of work is ahead.
"It's a journey," said Jay Worley, director of environmental programs at JEA. "It's going to have not only in the next few months an impact over the next few years as it looks at fuel, how we operate, what we operate in the near future, and how we respond to developing a plan with the state."
At this point, JEA officials can't say if these facilities will close or undergo modification or if customers' bills will go up.
Obama has said the changes in emission rules will actually bring down electric rates in the future by an average of $85 in 2030. Industry officials disagree and plan to sue over the rule changes.
Rep. Corrine Brown is a huge backer of Obama, but said this time, she has questions and concerns about the plan.
"I like the theory, but in Washington the devil is always in the detail," Brown said. "I have a problem with some of the recommendations. I'm going to get with our stakeholders in there, but I want us to move forward with clean air and the works, but we've got to make sure the science is in place."
Obama said the new rules will be like taking 166 million cars off the streets and will lead to much cleaner air and that will result in 90,000 fewer asthma attacks.
Earth Justice environmental attorney Bradley Marshall said the plan is an opportunity for Florida to embrace cleaner energy solutions. The federal plan offers credits to states using renewable resources.
"Here in Florida, we're hoping that this will open the state to solar finally," Marshall said. "This is the Sunshine State, and we hope that this means Florida can finally live up to its name."
A new report says Florida has the most to lose when it comes to climate change.
The Risky Business economic report on climate change says Florida already has $69 billion worth of coastal property at risk. A number that could balloon to $152 billion in the next 35 years.