Stakeholders, government officials, and policy experts from across the Midcontinent region and the nation gathered in Detroit, Michigan, on June 5, 2015, to discuss implementation options for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan. The one-day workshop was organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and the Great Plains Institute (GPI). The goal was to provide a forum for policy discussion within the region and to help inform two regional groups working on Clean Power Plan issues: the Midcontinent States Environmental and Energy Regulators (MSEER) and the Midwestern Power Sector Collaborative.
While not all speakers support the EPA’s proposed rulemaking, they all agreed to engage in a constructive dialogue about how the rule could best be implemented. Over the course of the workshop, speakers participated on panels discussing policy pathways for states, opportunities and challenges for multistate collaboration, and options for achieving state emissions reduction goals in the Midcontinent region.