What do new EPA regulations on carbon dioxide emissions mean for Houston?

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Obama administration on Monday unveiled strict new rules to cut carbon dioxide emissions. And here in Houston, the energy capital of the world, the news is getting mixed reaction, all depending on who you talk to.

In Ft. Bend County, the WA Parish plant is one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the country.

Run by NRG, the company says it doesn't know yet what impact the new rules will have on the plant, industry or your pocketbook.

But the EPA says the goal of reducing carbon emissions from existing plants by 30 percent and regulating new plants is for the health of the planet and each state has two years to figure out how to do it.

Texas is the largest producer in the country of these targeted emissions. It is also among the more efficient in the energy those emissions produce.

Regardless, environmental groups are heralding the the EPA's announcement.

"We're understanding now that we're not just talking about future impacts," says Adrian Shelley of Air Alliance Houston, an air quality environmental advocacy group in Houston. "There are current impacts of climate change here in Texas and elsewhere; rising temperatures, drought, changing weather patterns.

"This rule is the first significant step," says Barry Lefer, an earth science professor at the University of Houston.

He says the climate is changing and coal-fired power plants are a big reason.

"What we're really doing, changing where it rains and how much it rains and it's going to have a big impact on Texas," he said. "The western part

of Texas is going to get drier."

But what about the financial cost?

Proponents suggest there will be new jobs in emerging energy markets and while NRG may not know the impacts yet, there are those, including Governor Rick Perry, who issued a critical press release Monday and who contends the cost of energy will go up and jobs will go away.

Bob Tippee is the editor of the Oil and Gas Journal.

"This is the EPA very aggressively regulating a large part of the economy," he said.

NRG released the following statement on the story Monday afternoon. It reads: