Trump Administration Repeals Biden-Era Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards

The Trump administration is moving to repeal Biden-era climate regulations, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcing it is gutting the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards for U.S. power plants.

EPA chief Lee Zeldin stated the agency is repealing the majority of greenhouse gas requirements, projecting $310 billion in compliance cost savings. Zeldin has also proposed eliminating all remaining greenhouse gas emission standards, which would save an additional $370 billion. The EPA argues that greenhouse gas emissions from power plants have no material impact on global climate change.

Zeldin said the Trump Administration aims to protect American energy, ensure affordable electricity, and expects Americans to see a decrease in electricity prices. The move is intended to boost coal and natural gas power production, with coal production for the power sector expected to increase tenfold. The EPA's Assistant Administrator Aaron Szabo stated the proposed rule takes the position that regulating greenhouse gases for climate change from power plants is beyond the agency's authority under the Clean Air Act. Szabo declared that the years of Obama and Biden administrations working to destroy coal and natural gas are over.

The Biden-era rules, released in April 2024, required certain coal plants to reduce emissions by 90% by 2032 and new natural gas plants to offset most emissions. EPA officials now say the required carbon capture technology is not sufficiently available. Environmental groups and former Biden administration officials criticize the rollback. Zealan Hoover, a former senior advisor to the EPA, said the move kicks the legs out from under the entire legal framework for regulating climate pollution and could result in 5.8 billion metric tons of added carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, called power plant smokestacks one of the single largest sources of harmful pollution. Maggie Coulter, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, expects the administration to make a non-endangerment finding and questions if the action will stand up in court.