The Trump administration has unveiled plans to repeal existing limits on greenhouse gas emissions and other airborne pollutants from fossil fuel-fired power plants across the nation.
This proposal is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) initiative to roll back more than two dozen regulations and policies put in place by previous administrations.
If finalized as currently proposed, these changes would remove restrictions on the second-largest source of climate pollution in the United States, surpassed only by the transportation sector.
The EPA maintains that emissions from U.S. power plants constitute a minor fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, claiming these levels are on the decline.
The agency also argues that lifting these regulations would have negligible effects on public health.
The proposed rule indicates that the EPA aims to establish a finding that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants do not significantly contribute to harmful air pollution.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin defended this proposal, describing it as part of the administration’s commitment to environmental protection while simultaneously fostering economic growth.
“Rest assured President Trump is the biggest supporter of clean, beautiful coal,” Zeldin asserted from a wood-paneled setting within the agency.
He emphasized that the administration’s approach will bolster American energy dominance, noting that energy development is crucial for economic prosperity and national security.
However, environmental organizations rapidly condemned the move.
Shaun Goho, legal director at the Clean Air Task Force, criticized the proposals, stating that they threaten public health and climate stability in favor of the nation’s highest-polluting power plants.
This new rule seeks to erase safeguards finalized during the Biden administration that aimed to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from both existing coal and new natural gas-fired power plants by the 2030s.
Carbon dioxide, produced by human activities, is recognized as the primary contributor to global warming.
In 2009, the EPA classified carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as threats to public health and welfare.
However, pressures from fossil fuel businesses and their affiliates have historically delayed the implementation of strict regulations on these emissions.
Now, the Trump administration is looking to abolish the 2009 endangerment finding, a move that could simplify the process of rolling back other climate regulations.
A shift in focus is evident in the Trump administration’s energy strategy, which aims to reverse former President Joe Biden’s climate initiatives and lean more heavily into fossil fuels.
“We will drill, baby, drill,” Trump stated during a jubilant inauguration speech in January.
He also initiated the withdrawal process from the 2015 Paris Agreement, a global accord aimed at curbing climate pollution to mitigate the effects of global warming.
Under his administration, Trump declared a national energy emergency and imposed a moratorium on new wind energy projects on federal lands and waters.
The administration argues that U.S. power plants only account for roughly 3% of global greenhouse gases—down from 5.5% in 2005—claiming that further reductions would yield limited health benefits.
Critics counter that the U.S. has contributed nearly a quarter of today’s atmospheric climate pollution, more than any other nation historically.
When President Barack Obama introduced regulations to curb emissions from power plants in 2015, the intention was to motivate other countries to undertake similar measures.
Opposition from the coal industry quickly emerged, contesting the limits on power plant emissions that have been in place due to a steep decline in coal demand in the past decades.
In 1990, coal-generated electricity accounted for 52% of the nation’s supply, a stark contrast to its decline to just 15% by 2023.
Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, expressed support for the administration’s efforts to counter Biden’s regulatory approach to coal power.
The coal industry has asserted that coal-fired power remains essential for meeting rising electricity demands, which include powering the expanding artificial intelligence (AI) sector.
West Virginia’s Republican Governor Patrick Morrisey applauded the new proposal as a significant win for the state’s energy producers and all Americans reliant on consistent and affordable electricity.
Morrisey, a former attorney general, has long championed efforts to dismantle climate regulations affecting power plants.
In April, Trump signed executive orders aimed at revitalizing the coal industry and facilitating operation for aging coal plants, allowing exemptions from federal pollution limits for two years and promoting increased coal mining on government land.
During his first term, despite attempts to support specific coal plants, Trump faced obstacles as plant operators transitioned to more lucrative gas-fired alternatives.
Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, criticized these rollbacks, stating that they signify a capitulation regarding pollution that affects air quality and exacerbates climate change.
In contrast, the Biden administration’s rules aimed at transitioning the country towards the ambitious goal of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a target aligned with the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.
This proposed regression from Trump’s administration would move the U.S. further from its climate goals.
Furthermore, the EPA plans to dilute a Biden-era rule that mandated limits on various pollutants, including mercury, a neurotoxin detrimental to brain development in infants and children.
Coal power plants have historically been the largest contributors to mercury pollution in the country.
Ryan Maher, an environmental health attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, expressed grave concerns over these potential changes.
He cautioned that if these reckless rollbacks remain, they would exacerbate severe climate incidents, leading to increased fatalities in children, rising cancer rates, along with more respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
A legal framework for regulating power plant emissions was solidified by the Supreme Court’s 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA decision, mandating that the EPA control carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
In 2014, the Obama administration proposed the Clean Power Plan, which aimed to cut carbon emissions by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030.
Yet, this plan faced an array of legal confrontations and ultimately never took effect.
Despite this, the U.S. successfully met its emission reduction target well in advance of 2030, as coal plants were supplanted by natural gas and renewables.
In 2019, the Trump administration replaced the Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy rule, which permitted higher emissions from power plants.
Upon taking office in 2021, Biden presented the most ambitious climate agenda of any major party candidate in U.S. history, aiming to eradicate climate pollution in the power sector by 2035.
This goal aligns with scientific recommendations needed to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) and avert dire climate consequences.
However, the continued reliance on fossil fuels indicates a trajectory exceeding the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold, with 2024 marking the hottest year on record.
In 2022, the Supreme Court once again limited the EPA’s regulatory scope over power plant emissions, ruling that without a distinct statute, the agency lacks the authority to compel the entire power generation sector to transition away from fossil fuels.
Consequently, the EPA focused on creating guidelines for individual power plants.
The agency, along with environmental organizations, believed that this approach might withstand scrutiny from a judiciary dominated by conservative justices.
image source from：https://www.npr.org/2025/06/11/nx-s1-5429578/trump-power-plants-epa-climate-change
