EPA Power Plant Rollback to Add 123 Million Tons of CO2

September 27, 2026 at 08:00 PM3 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in September it will relinquish authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act. The move is expected to add 123 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next decade. The decision follows President Trump's earlier move to overturn the 2009 EPA endangerment finding.

Key Facts

The EPA expects the rollback to result in an additional 123 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere over the next decade.
The EPA estimates the move will save power plant operators $370 million in direct compliance costs.
The Biden administration's 2024 carbon pollution standards were expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2027 and provide $370 billion in net benefits.
The stricter standards were also expected to prevent 1,200 premature deaths and 360,000 asthma attacks in 2035 alone.
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the rule change was made to end the "war on coal" and predicted a decrease in electricity prices.

Regulatory Rollback

The EPA announced in September that it will relinquish its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act. This effectively removes any limits on emissions from coal and gas plants and reduces the government's ability to curb this pollution. The decision followed President Trump's earlier-in-the-year move to overturn the foundational 2009 EPA endangerment finding that greenhouse gases pose a significant threat to public health and the environment. In February, the EPA also scrapped pollution standards for cars and trucks.

Projected Emissions Impact

The EPA expects the new move to result in an additional 123 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere over the next decade. The new EPA analysis does not factor in the financial benefit of lives saved through reduced air pollution in its calculations. Therefore, it estimates the move will save power plant operators $370 million in direct compliance costs. When the carbon pollution standards for power plants were introduced under the Biden administration in 2024, the EPA said it expected the new rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2027 and provide $370 billion in net benefits. The stricter standards were also expected to prevent 1,200 premature deaths and 360,000 asthma attacks in 2035 alone by improving air quality.

Administration Statements

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the Trump administration made the rule change to end the "war on coal". Zeldin said, "Americans will see a decrease in electricity prices, but this is just the beginning," during a G20 meeting in Houston in September. He added, "We are working to go even further so that American energy can be fully unleashed. Realising the full potential of American energy means more jobs, lower prices and a more prosperous America." Meanwhile, the EPA released a statement in which it said, "Models continue to show that GHG emissions from power plants have no material impact on global climate change. In fact, if all carbon dioxide were eliminated tomorrow, there would be no meaningful climate impact." The statement from the EPA is strongly at odds with the latest climate science.