The EPA moved Sept. 14 to scrap Biden-era rules that required coal plants to cut carbon emissions 90% by 2032 and forced new natural gas plants to offset most of their output — the most sweeping rollback yet of the agency’s climate regulations for power plants.
Why it matters: It’s not just a policy reversal — once finalized, the rule would bar the EPA from regulating power-plant greenhouse gas emissions for climate purposes at all, a structural change meant to outlast this administration, not just undo the last one, per the Daily Signal.
Driving the news:
EPA Assistant Administrator Aaron Szabo argues the Clean Air Act never authorized climate-based greenhouse-gas regulation, and that the Biden EPA leaned on unproven carbon-capture technology while ignoring the Supreme Court’s 2022 West Virginia v. EPA ruling limiting the agency’s power to restructure the energy sector, the Daily Signal reports.
The rule has not been finalized — it is now a formal proposal that will go through public comment before it can take effect, per the Washington Examiner.
It is part of a broader pattern: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called this repeal “just the beginning” of the agency’s push to roll back Biden-era energy rules.
By the numbers:
$310 billion — what the EPA estimates the repeal will save consumers.
$370 million — additional projected cut in direct compliance costs.
90% — the carbon-emissions cut coal plants would have had to hit by 2032 under the rule now being scrapped.
What they’re saying: Szabo: “The years the Obama and Biden administrations worked to destroy coal and natural gas are over.” Zeldin pledged to “fully unleash American energy” for “more jobs, lower prices, and a more prosperous America,” via the Daily Signal.
The other side: The Environmental Defense Fund’s general counsel warned the rollback would create “enormous costs for the health, safety and well-being of families” and vowed legal action once the rule is finalized, via the Daily Signal.
What’s next: The proposal now enters a public-comment period before the EPA can finalize it; environmental groups have signaled they will sue as soon as it does.
The bottom line: Coming on top of earlier rollbacks, this is the Trump EPA’s attempt to make deregulation of the power sector permanent — not just for this term, but for whoever holds the agency next.
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