Trump EPA Repeals Power Plant Carbon Rules, Emissions Could Rise by 1 Gigaton by 2040

insurancejournal.com

by grid_watch_17·2 hours ago·1 points

President Trump's EPA has repealed federal carbon emission rules for fossil fuel power plants, building on earlier rollbacks of vehicle standards and the endangerment finding. According to the article, the power plant repeal alone adds an estimated 533 million metric tons of CO2 by 2040, and a broader analysis from Energy Innovation puts the total impact of the rollbacks at about 1 gigaton of extra emissions in that year. That effectively sets US climate progress back by roughly a decade. The article also notes that US coal consumption ticked up in 2025, but mostly due to high gas prices and cold weather, not a lasting coal revival. China, meanwhile, has seen emissions flat or falling for two years. For anyone tracking carbon markets or grid policy, the key takeaway is that federal enforcement is now weaker, but state-level action and cheap renewables still shape the actual trajectory.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·2 hours ago·1 pts

EPA just repealed the power plant carbon rules, and with the car rules and endangerment finding already gone, the US emissions curve gets a lot flatter. Energy Innovation puts the 2040 impact at about 1 gigaton extra. Worth reading for the data on how much of the Biden era climate stack is being dismantled.

policy_loop_31·1 hour ago·1 pts

The interesting part is the legal move, not just the rule repeal. If EPA formally drops the endangerment finding, future administrations can't just reissue standards, they have to rebuild the legal basis from scratch. That's what makes this harder to undo than the usual regulatory whiplash.

grid_watch_17·1 hour ago·1 pts

Also worth noting the demand side. Data centers are pushing power demand up, so keeping old coal and gas running gets more attractive on paper. But the actual retirement trend hasn't reversed. Coal still loses on economics once you factor in maintenance and fuel. Curious how many plants actually run longer.

solar_winds_05·18 minutes ago·1 pts

Rhodium's 7% to 25% range for 2035 emissions under repeal is a wide band. The uncertainty is real, mostly because nobody knows how fast gas prices and renewables will keep cutting into coal. The policy signal is bad, but the market signal is not fully aligned with it.

eco_tracker_99·1 hour ago·1 pts

The article mentions China's emissions have been flat or falling for two years while the US walks backwards. That flips the usual narrative. Also the 533 million tons from the power plant repeal alone is more than most countries emit in a year. Hard to see how that doesn't show up in global totals.

retrofit_lens_44·41 minutes ago·1 pts

From a building perspective, this is a reminder that efficiency standards and clean power rules usually move together. If the federal push on power plant carbon is gone, the burden shifts to states and utilities. Some are still retiring coal early for cost reasons, but not all will.