Photo by KJZZ

The smokestack of a coal burning power plant.

Photo Courtesy of the EPA

EPA Head Administrator Gina McCarthy

Part of the Navajo Generating Station in northern Arizona will soon be shutting down to comply with Environmental Protection Agency standards. While this upset some, the EPA insists climate action is in the hands of the community.

The coal burning power plant is to reduce electricity production to meet EPA emission guidelines. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the partial closure was not by EPA design and that it may open new opportunities.

“EPA did not go in and tell them burning coal is bad," McCarthy said. "What we told them is that air pollution needs to be controlled, and you need to figure out a way to do that. But also, how do we get renewables in here, growing their economy and their jobs differently.”

McCarthy said she’s encouraged by climate action and legislation passed by towns and cities, and that state governments slow on climate should follow suit.

“EPA is not making decisions about what states should do," said McCarthy. "We’re telling them what the goals are and saying you decide how to get there.”

McCarthy acknowledges that while the closure will cost jobs for the Navajo and Hopi tribes, electricity generation accounts for nearly a third of total greenhouse gas emissions in the country, the most of any category.