Obama's clean power plan will hit shale gas share of electricity

The frackers are furious over the incentives given to solar and wind that provide them with a fighting chance to compete as coal is phased out

The final version of the clean power plan has thrown the Obama administration into conflict with shale gas, America's 21st-century energy darling.

Coal, the most polluting source of electricity, has already entered a long twilight. Around a fifth of all US coal-fired plants are expected to shut between 2012 and 2020 and some analysts believe the hamstrung sector to be in 'structural decline'. Should the clean power plan survive an anticipated blitzkrieg of legal and state government challenges, it will hasten this demise.