Overview
- The EPA finalized the repeal Monday of the 2024 standards that would have forced existing coal plants and new gas plants to cut about 90% of their carbon pollution using carbon capture or cleaner fuels.
- Alongside the repeal the agency proposed a separate rule that argues the Clean Air Act does not authorize power-plant greenhouse-gas limits, a legal theory the administration says would bar future regulations and that is expected to be contested in court.
- The agency said the repeal will remove roughly $300 billion in compliance costs, a calculation that replaces prior benefit-focused analyses and drew praise from industry groups that warned of higher costs and reliability risks without the change.
- Climate and health experts warn the rollback will raise greenhouse gases and co-pollutants from a sector that accounts for about 24% of U.S. emissions and that the Biden-era rule was estimated to prevent thousands of premature deaths and large public-health harms.
- Environmental groups and Democratic-led states have pledged immediate lawsuits and legal experts say the courts — given past split rulings on EPA authority and the administration’s earlier Endangerment Finding revocation — will likely decide how long the rollback lasts.