Trump administration to lift restrictions on coal and gas power plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under President Donald Trump’s administration, announced that it will repeal a rule limiting greenhouse gas pollution from coal- and gas-fired power plants.

The agency stated that this move would remove more than $300 billion in costs from the energy sector and help “unleash” American energy.

This regulatory change, first proposed last year, marks a dramatic shift away from the efforts of Democratic presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to address climate change and curb industrial pollution.

EPA officials explained that the change would allow utility facilities to make decisions best suited to their customers, rather than forcing them to shut down older or less efficient plants.

The power plant rule is among approximately 30 environmental regulations targeted for revision by Zeldin in early 2025, when he described it as “the most important day in the history of deregulation in America.”

When unveiling his proposal for the new rules last year, Zeldin said they aimed to end “the Biden and Obama administrations’ war on a significant portion of America’s domestic energy supply.”

On their part, environmental and public health advocacy groups described the changes as dangerous and pledged to challenge them in court.

Vicky Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, said, “Undermining our protections against climate pollution from power plants will impose a heavy cost on the health, safety, and well-being of families across the country. Americans everywhere are already suffering from record heat waves, more severe floods and storms, and skyrocketing insurance costs due to climate change.”