Biden-era standards targeted 1 billion metric tons in emissions cuts by 2047
The US Environmental Protection Agency is poised to formally repeal carbon pollution standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants, according to reports. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is expected to announce the move as soon as Monday on the sidelines of the G20 energy ministers’ meeting in Houston, Texas, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The New York Times also reported on the expected announcement.
Last year, the Trump administration proposed repealing rules passed under Joe Biden to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, mercury and other air pollutants from power plants. The Biden administration estimated the rules would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion metric tons by 2047, a crucial part of his administration’s fight against the climate crisis, according to The Guardian. The electricity sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of US greenhouse gas pollution.
Such a move would almost certainly face legal challenges, but if it survived, the rollback of pollution standards could reduce the ability of future administrations to control climate emissions, The Guardian reported.
Environmental groups condemned the expected move. Holly Bender, the Sierra Club’s chief program officer, said in a statement: “The Sierra Club will fight back against this reckless and dangerous proposal with everything we have in the courts, in Congress, and in communities across the country.”
Bender added: “While wildfires rage, floods devastate communities, and families struggle to afford skyrocketing electricity bills and insurance premiums, the Trump administration is handing the fossil fuel industry a license to keep polluting. This is full-throated climate denial while the climate crisis happens in real time and a shocking betrayal of the American public.”
Bloomberg reported that this week the EPA is finalizing a portion of the initial proposal, and agency officials also plan to propose a separate rule repealing the federal finding that greenhouse gases from power plants specifically pose a threat.
The EPA did not respond to a request for comment outside business hours, The Guardian reported. Trump has long backed promoting the interests of oil and gas and has stepped up efforts in his second term to remove environmental regulations he argues are unnecessary barriers to industrial development and expanded energy production, according to The Guardian. Climate advocates and experts have described the rollbacks as gifts to polluters at the expense of the planet, Americans’ public health and economic wellbeing, The Guardian reported.