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US EPA Scraps Rules on Power Plant Emissions, Citing Lack of Authority
Confirmed
In Short: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it will scrap rules aimed at limiting pollution from coal and gas power plants, a move criticized for potentially increasing emissions.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it will scrap rules aimed at limiting pollution from coal and gas power plants, a move criticized for potentially increasing emissions. The EPA said the regulations required 'control technologies that are not adequately demonstrated, effectively forcing plants to retire rather than setting standards they could actually meet,' according to the BBC.
The Biden-era regulations called for a major reduction in carbon emissions from power plants, as well as vehicles and industrial facilities. The power sector makes up about a quarter of US emissions, at roughly 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent each year, according to the latest available estimates.
The EPA's decision comes as the Biden administration has attempted more aggressive interventions to prop up coal use, including keeping a coal plant in Michigan open through a series of emergency declarations by the Department of Energy.
The move has been challenged by states where coal plants have been slated to close, and the BBC reports that the EPA also said it would take steps to prevent future administrations from regulating power plant emissions.
What's confirmed
- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it will scrap rules aimed at limiting pollution from coal and gas power plants, a move criticized for potentially increasing emissions. The EPA said the regulations required 'control technologies that are not adequately demonstrated, effectively forcing plants to retire rather than setting standards they could actually meet,' according to the BBC.
- The Biden-era regulations called for a major reduction in carbon emissions from power plants, as well as vehicles and industrial facilities. The power sector makes up about a quarter of US emissions, at roughly 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent each year, according to the latest available estimates.
- The EPA's decision comes as the Biden administration has attempted more aggressive interventions to prop up coal use, including keeping a coal plant in Michigan open through a series of emergency declarations by the Department of Energy.
- The move has been challenged by states where coal plants have been slated to close, and the BBC reports that the EPA also said it would take steps to prevent future administrations from regulating power plant emissions.
What's still developing
- The use of coal to generate electricity on the US grid has been plunging for nearly two decades, and the first Trump administration was unable to affect the trend.
- While this only affects a single coal plant in Michigan, the reasoning of the decision will apply to every coal plant closure that has been blocked by the DOE.
- One of its most direct means of doing so is to order coal plants that were scheduled to close to remain open, even if there is no need for them.
- "The reality is that America produces energy better and cleaner than anywhere else in the world, and our power plants should not be unfairly targeted," the head of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, said on Monday.
- Fossil fuels, which include coal and natural gas, are by far the largest driver of global climate change, according to the United Nations.
- But Trump has long argued for a resurgence in coal power and has regularly criticised renewables such as wind and solar.
- In 2022, the EPA lost some of its powers to limit greenhouse gas emissions when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of 19 states and some of the nation's largest coal companies, which were worried about the economic cost of the policy and argued the agency did not have the authority to limit emissions across whole states.