US rollback of power plant emissions limits
The EPA finalized the repeal of Biden-era regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants on September 14, announced by Administrator Lee Zeldin at a G20 energy ministers meeting in Houston; the agency said the rollback would save the power industry more than $310 billion and help 'unleash' American energy, while separately proposing a rule, expected to be finalized in 2027, that could prevent future administrations from regulating power-plant climate emissions at all. The overturned 2024 rule had required coal plants and new gas plants to capture 90% of their carbon emissions or shut down, and was projected to cut power-sector carbon pollution 75% below its 2005 peak while preventing roughly 1,200-30,000 premature deaths annually and generating $120-275 billion in health benefits, according to prior EPA and Associated Press analyses. The EPA argued that power-plant emissions -- which account for roughly a quarter of total US climate pollution, the second-largest source after transportation -- have 'no material impact on global climate change,' a claim environmental groups and scientists sharply disputed.
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15 September 2026
14 September 2026
- Trump administration removes climate pollution limits on power plants CNN
- US scraps limits on emissions from coal and gas power plants BBC News
- E.P.A. Is Expected to Erase Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants New York Times
- US repeals rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions by power plants Al Jazeera