The EPA has repealed most of the Biden administration's carbon emissions standards for coal and gas power plants. The rules, adopted in 2024 under Clean Air Act Section 111, would have required existing coal plants operating past 2039 and new gas plants to cut CO2 emissions by 90%, mainly through carbon capture and storage. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the repeal at a G20 energy ministers meeting in Houston. The agency also proposed a separate rule arguing that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants do not significantly contribute to dangerous air pollution under the Clean Air Act, which would block future federal climate rules for the sector. The power sector is the second largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for nearly a quarter of the national total, and power sector emissions rose 4% last year according to EIA. State level emissions rules remain in place. Legal challenges are expected. Critics say the EPA's position appears contradictory because the earlier repeal accepted the agency's authority while the new proposal questions it. The Supreme Court's 2022 decision in West Virginia v EPA will shape the fight over whether the Clean Air Act gives the agency power to regulate power plant carbon emissions at all.
