The EPA proposed to repeal Biden-era regulations on power plant emissions, claiming they are too costly and not a significant danger.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin criticized climate change efforts as a “cult,” aiming to boost fossil fuel production.
The rollback targets 2024 and 2015 emissions standards, potentially saving the power sector over a billion dollars annually.
Environmental groups vow legal challenges, arguing the rules could prevent tens of thousands of deaths.
The Trump administration’s EPA formally proposed last weel to repeal Biden-era regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from fossil fuel-fired power plants, claiming the rules are too costly and U.S. emissions aren’t a significant danger. The move is meant to boost coal, oil, and gas, but faces strong opposition over public health and climate impacts.
Cult classics: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin didn’t pull punches, labeling efforts to combat climate change a “cult” and accusing the previous administration of “narrow-minded climate change zealotry.” Zeldin argued the Biden rules were designed to “regulate coal, oil and gas out of existence,” prioritizing instead what he calls “American energy dominance.”
Regulatory rewind: The proposals specifically target 2024 rules for new and existing power plants and 2015 Obama-era standards, with the EPA suggesting these emissions don’t significantly contribute to dangerous air pollution. The agency also wants to weaken the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), rolling requirements back to 2012 levels, claiming the newer rule created “significant regulatory uncertainty” despite acknowledging mercury emissions had already plummeted by 90% by 2021 from pre-MATS figures.
Showdown incoming: The EPA estimates these rollbacks could save the power sector over a billion dollars annually. But public health advocates and environmental groups have widely condemned the plan, vowing legal challenges and highlighting prior analyses suggesting the targeted rules could prevent tens of thousands of deaths.
The wider energy play: This aggressive deregulatory push marks a sharp divergence from recent climate policy, prioritizing fossil fuel production and setting the stage for significant legal and environmental battles over the future of U.S. energy and emissions. Meanwhile, the administration’s energy agenda extends beyond the EPA, with a Trump-backed House bill advancing to potentially end numerous green-energy subsidies. There are also reports the EPA intends to eliminate the foundational 2009 “endangerment finding” for greenhouse gases. On the international front, the U.S. has begun the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and domestically, executive orders are already in place to support coal plants powering the AI industry’s data centers.
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