EPA Ends Efforts to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Power Plants

Written by John Egan for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

Summary

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday said it was repealing its rule that regulated carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that burn fossil fuels.

EPA Scrapping Greenhouse Gas Rules for Power Plants

In his second presidential administration, Donald Trump has pursued an agenda of "energy dominance." On Monday, the EPA took the next step down that path by announcing it was repealing its own draft rule regulating carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil-fueled power plants.

The agency said the repeal would save electricity generators over $300 billion. The announcement was made by EPA officials who were participating in an G-20 energy abundance summit in Houston, Texas.

Claiming an "energy emergency" from the first day of his second presidency, Trump has instructed his cabinet agencies to take numerous steps to pare back regulation of energy, including electricity generation, oil and gas production and metals and minerals mining, to ensure continued growth of the U.S. economy. He has taken a specific interest in making sure there is an adequate amount of dispatchable electric generation to meet the expected future electric demand, notably from planned data centers, cryptocurrency mines and advanced manufacturing.

In a press release, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said: "For over 15 years, the Obama and Biden administrations implemented a war on coal to destroy reliable and affordable energy. The Trump Administration has come in to protect American energy and to make sure you can afford to keep the lights on." 

The repeal is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register in the coming days.

Trump Administration Fulfilling its Environmental Plans

Monday's effort continues the second Trump administration's efforts to undo the signature energy and environment work of his Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Monday's action would be the next step in efforts that began early in the second Trump administration to scrap regulation of CO2 emissions from fossil-fueled power plants. For more on that, see June 12, 2025, article -- EPA Would Axe Regulation of Power Plant Emissions of Greenhouse Gases, Air Toxics and March 14, 2025, article - EPA Will Reconsider 31 Energy and Environmental Rules from Trump's Predecessors.

Monday's announcement follows from an EPA decision, earlier this year, to repeal its own "endangerment finding," made in 2009, that GHG emissions were a threat to public health and needed to be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Withdrawing the endangerment finding, if it survives legal challenge, could make it more difficult if not impossible to regulate those emissions under a different presidential administration. For more on that, see February 13, 2026, article - EPA Voids Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding for Vehicles.

By the Numbers

• US$300 billion: Amount of money, in billions that the EPA projected electricity generators will save from the agency's repeal of its rule on regulating greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fueled power plants.

Lawsuits Seek to Block Trump's Plans

Much of the second Trump administration's efforts to reverse the energy and environmental efforts of Obama and Biden are being litigated.

Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 3-0 that the administration exceeded its authority when it ordered the J.H. Campbell power plant in Michigan to continue operating past its scheduled retirement date.

There is little doubt that Monday's move by the EPA will also draw lawsuits.

In a statement, Meredith Hankins, federal climate legal director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said: "With millions of Americans facing wildfires, heat waves and deadly storms fueled by climate change, the Trump administration is cutting the biggest polluters loose to do more damage than ever."

Key Takeaways

• The EPA on Monday said it was repealing its effort to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that burn fossil fuels.
• The move continues the second Trump administration's efforts to reverse energy and environmental rules and laws enacted by the Obama and Biden administrations.
• The EPA move likely will be contested in court.
• Much of the president's energy and environmental deregulatory agenda is being litigated.
• One federal court last Friday ruled against the administration's order for a 64-year-old Michigan coal-fired power plant to remain operating after its scheduled May 2025 retirement date.

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