Key facts
- The EPA is repealing Biden-era carbon emission limits for coal and gas power plants.
- The agency claims the repeal will save $310 billion and reduce energy prices.
- The EPA stated the previous rules exceeded its authority.
- The power sector accounts for about a quarter of US emissions.
- Critics argue the repeal will harm public health and climate progress.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced rules to repeal limits on carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, a move that also aims to prevent future climate-focused regulations of these facilities. The agency stated that removing the majority of these rules, which were designed to improve public health and curb climate change, will save $310 billion and lead to a decrease in energy prices.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said that America produces energy better and cleaner than anywhere else, and its power plants should not be unfairly targeted. The EPA found that the Biden-era regulations had exceeded the agency's authority by requiring control technologies that were not adequately demonstrated, effectively forcing plants to retire. The agency is also seeking to eliminate other greenhouse gas rules for the power sector.
The Biden-era regulations were predicted to stop 4,500 premature deaths annually. However, the EPA stated that any potential public health harms are too uncertain, conjectural, remote, and convoluted to tie specifically to the US power sector.
Nathaniel Keohane, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, described the move as a "giant step backward," arguing that the EPA ignored sound science and economics and abdicated its responsibility to protect public health and welfare.
The U.S. is the second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases globally, behind China, with the power sector accounting for about a quarter of U.S. emissions, approximately 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent each year. While U.S. power sector emissions have generally been falling due to reduced coal use, some researchers question the resurgence of coal power and point to the falling costs of clean technologies.
Previous modeling by the Rhodium Group suggested that rolling back U.S. climate regulations would slow, but not reverse, emissions cuts. In 2022, the Supreme Court limited the EPA's powers to limit greenhouse gas emissions, ruling in favor of states and coal companies concerned about economic costs and the agency's authority.