The United States Environmental Protection Agency announced on September 14 that it is repealing limits on climate-warming pollution from coal and gas-fired power plants, the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country, according to Human Rights Watch.
The EPA is gutting the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, which had required existing coal plants and new gas plants to capture 90 percent of carbon emissions or shut down by 2039. According to the source, the standards would have reduced carbon pollution by an estimated 1.38 billion metric tons through 2047.
The Biden-era rule was also projected to reduce power plants’ emissions of health-harming pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter. The Biden administration estimated that the 2024 Carbon Standards would prevent 1,200 deaths and 360,000 asthma attacks in the US in 2035 alone.
The EPA claimed its repeal would save businesses $370 million in regulatory costs but did not quantify the costs to public health. According to the source, in January the agency said it would no longer factor in health costs when estimating the economic impact of pollution limits.
In its announcement rescinding the 2024 standards, the EPA also proposed removing “all remaining greenhouse gas emissions requirements for power plants,” arguing these emissions do not impact climate change. The EPA also revoked its 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health in 2025, according to the source, eliminating a scientific foundation that had provided legal basis for federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Human Rights Watch documented that pollutants from coal-fired plants and industrial operations can degrade air quality and harm communities living nearby, based on research in countries including Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Türkiye.
Key facts
- The EPA announced September 14 that it is repealing the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards for power plants
- The standards required coal and gas plants to capture 90% of carbon emissions or shut down by 2039
- The standards would have prevented 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047
- The Biden administration estimated the standards would prevent 1,200 deaths and 360,000 asthma attacks in 2035
- The EPA also proposed removing all remaining greenhouse gas emissions requirements for power plants