EPA to Scrap Climate Pollution Limits on Power Plants

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to finalize a rule that eliminates limits on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas power plants. Administrator Lee Zeldin has argued the decision will remove billions of dollars in industry costs and help “unleash” American energy. The announcement could come as soon as Monday, according to individuals familiar with the proposal.

Representatives for the EPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The plan was first reported by The New York Times.

The rollback represents a significant departure from climate initiatives undertaken by Democratic administrations under Joe Biden and Barack Obama. It also raises the possibility that future administrations may be barred from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Zeldin, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are scheduled to announce the change during a G20 ministerial meeting on “energy abundance” in Houston. The location underscores the importance of Texas to the energy sector but has been viewed by some as a slight toward European allies who have prioritized environmental policies that the current administration is working to reverse.

In its proposal, the EPA stated that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel plants “do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution.” This contradicts the agency’s own 2023 data, which indicated the power sector was responsible for 31% of carbon emissions from fossil fuels, making it the second-highest emitting industry.

Zeldin defended the move as an end to what he described as the previous administration’s “war on so much of our U.S. domestic energy supply,” claiming those policies were designed to regulate the coal industry out of existence. The coal industry and groups such as America’s Power have supported the repeal, arguing the previous rules constituted overreach and threatened grid reliability amid rising demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.

More than a dozen environmental and health organizations have already filed lawsuits against Zeldin and the EPA. Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, warned that removing protections would impose enormous costs on families through worsened health outcomes and extreme weather impacts.

An Associated Press analysis last year estimated that the targeted rules prevented roughly 30,000 deaths and saved $275 billion annually. The analysis noted that dismantling the regulations would increase emissions of smog, mercury, lead, and fine particulate matter, while also accelerating global warming.

The decision aligns with President Donald Trump’s repeated pledges to boost domestic energy production. Trump previously labeled climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris climate accord for the second time.

Under the Biden-era rule issued in 2024, coal-fired plants would have been required to capture smokestack emissions or shut down. Those requirements are now being overturned.