Matthew Daly, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to repeal rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that this action would remove billions of dollars in costs for the industry and facilitate American energy production.
The proposed rule change, initially suggested last year, could be announced as soon as Monday, according to two sources familiar with the proposal. This move marks a significant shift from the climate policies implemented by Democratic Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, which aimed to address climate change and reduce industrial pollution, particularly in low-income and majority Black or Hispanic communities.
The rule change is anticipated to face immediate legal challenges and could hinder future administrations from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity as the final rule has not yet been made public.
The EPA did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Zeldin, along with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, is hosting a G20 ministerial meeting on "energy abundance" in Houston, where the rule change is expected to be announced. This location is significant due to Texas's role in the energy industry and may be seen as a disregard for international allies pursuing environmentally friendly policies.
In a speech to the United Nations last year, President Donald Trump referred to climate change as "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world" and withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 Paris climate accord, which aimed to set voluntary goals for reducing emissions.
Despite ongoing disruptions in global fuel markets due to the Iran war, Trump has highlighted U.S. energy abundance, even as gas prices have risen to over $4.31 per gallon, an increase of more than a dollar from the previous year.
The New York Times first reported the plan to finalize the power plant rule.
These rollbacks are intended to fulfill Trump's commitment to "unleash American energy" and simplify electricity supply for homes and businesses.
The power plant rule is part of nearly three dozen environmental regulations targeted by Zeldin in early 2025, which he described as the "most consequential day of deregulation in American history."
Zeldin argued that the new rules were designed to end the Biden and Obama administrations' perceived "war on so much of our U.S. domestic energy supply."
Environmental and public health organizations have criticized the rollbacks, labeling them as dangerous and pledging to challenge the rules legally. Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, stated, "Tearing down our national protections against climate pollution from power plants will have enormous costs for the health, safety and well-being of families across the country." She added that the EPA has a legal obligation to protect the public from harmful pollution.
Coal, gas, and oil-fired power plants account for approximately one-quarter of the nation's total climate pollution, second only to the transportation sector. Pollution from power plants is one of the largest sources of climate-changing emissions globally.
The rules targeted by the Trump administration's EPA could potentially prevent an estimated 30,000 deaths and save $275 billion annually while in effect, according to an Associated Press analysis that included the agency's prior assessments and various research.
Even partial rollbacks of the rules would likely lead to increased pollutants such as smog, mercury, and lead, as well as higher emissions of greenhouse gases, exacerbating global warming.
Biden has prioritized combating climate change during his presidency. Under a strict EPA rule issued in 2024, coal-fired power plants would have been required to capture smokestack emissions or shut down. These regulations are now being reversed.
In its proposal last year, the Trump EPA contended that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-fired power plants "do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution" or climate change, thus not meeting the threshold for regulatory action under the Clean Air Act. The EPA stated that greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired plants are "a small and decreasing part of global emissions."
Zeldin claimed that the Biden-era rules were intended to "suffocate our economy in order to protect the environment," aiming to regulate the coal industry "out of existence."
By Matthew Daly, Ali Swenson, Associated Press
By Matthew Daly, Seung Min Kim, Associated Press
Matthew Daly, Associated Press