(RALEIGH) -- On June 2nd, the EPA is slated to release a proposed rule regulating carbon emissions from existing power plants. Jonas Monast with the Nicolas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University says North Carolina is already moving in the right direction.

"For the most part, we in North Carolina are moving towards a lower carbon-electricity system anyway, so we can take advantage of that in the way that DENR officials write the rule," he said.

The CO₂ rules will set emissions benchmarks and give the states flexibility in meeting them - a partnership mandated by the Clean Air Act.