Technology, consumer choices, and evolving markets are driving the U.S. power sector rapidly toward cleaner energy. Yet energy and air quality regulations are failing to keep pace with change. The result is inefficient “stovepiping” of responsibilities, as states struggle to meet numerous statutory requirements. The considerable impact of the energy sector on the environment, and vice versa, begs the question: Can energy and environmental regulators work together, in a more integrated and streamlined fashion, to achieve state energy and air quality goals?

We think they can, as Ken Colburn and Christopher James detailed in a webinar on April 27th. They reveal how energy and air quality planning can be retooled—in a process RAP has dubbed “E-Merge”—to achieve safe, reliable, affordable, and clean energy more cost-effectively. The speakers explore:

• The current urgency for integrating energy and environmental planning;
• Methods for overcoming current regulatory and economic inefficiencies;
• The steps in an E-Merge process;
• The legal foundation for such integration and streamlining under the Clean Air Act;
• Examples of similar initiatives;
• The roles of the Environmental Protection Agency and other stakeholders; and
• Next steps for interested states.