EPA to repeal greenhouse gas limits for power plants

(NBC, KYMA) - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it will roll back emissions limits on power plants in one of the Trump Administration's most significant moves yet to undo the climate policies enacted under former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

The EPA announced Monday it will roll back emissions limits on coal and gas-fired power plants.

The change would overturn a 2024 rule requiring power plants to use carbon sequestration equipment to control pollution, which was one of the biggest climate change rules implemented by the Biden Administration's EPA.

In addition, the agency proposed eliminating all other greenhouse gas emissions rules, arguing under the Clean Air Act, it doesn't have the authority to regulate those emissions as they pertain to climate change.

In February, the EPA similarly repealed emissions rules for vehicles, which account for the most pollution in the U.S. today.

The moves would essentially do the same thing for power plants, which are the second-biggest source of U.S. emissions, and the newly announced rollbacks could also prevent future administrations from putting those limits back in place.

The EPA claims repealing the 2024 Power-Plant Rule would "save industry more than $300 billion in costs and help unleash" American energy.

In 2024, the Biden Administration said its new rules, which called for power plants to sequester and store at least 90% of the carbon pollution they produced by 2032, would benefit the climate and public health in ways that would far outweigh the implementation costs.

Litigation over the new EPA policy changes could take years and might not be resolved before President Donald Trump leaves office.