The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday outlined a set of new rules that require fossil fuel-based power plants to cut pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by 2032 or be shut down, a significant climate policy push by the Biden administration climate that will likely be challenged in court.
File Photo: The EPA's latest rules target pollution emitted by fossil fuel power plants.
The EPA said the rules would prevent 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution from entering the atmosphere through 2047—equivalent to the annual emissions of 328 million gas-powered cars.
Under the rules, coal plants that intend to stay open beyond 2039 and new gas-powered plants will need to either cut or capture and store 90% of their carbon dioxide emissions from their smokestacks by 2032.
The rules also require coal power plants to reduce mercury and other air pollutants, clean up wastewater discharge and improve the management of previously unregulated coal ash.
But the rules do not cover existing gas-powered plants, which account for 43.1% of electricity generation in the U.S.—more than any other source.
The EPA projects the policies will lead to “$370 billion in climate and public health net benefits” over the next 20 years.
The White House said the new rules “together with the other standards will provide hundreds of billions of dollars in climate, environmental justice, and public health benefits, including fewer premature deaths, asthma cases, and lost work and school days.”
In 2016, coal—the dirtiest fossil fuel—accounted for 30.4% of all power generation in the U.S., while renewables stood at 14.9%. Coal power generation has declined significantly since then, with 16.2% of all power generated in the U.S. in 2023 coming from coal-powered plants. Renewables accounted for 21.4% of energy generated in the U.S. last year.
Like earlier efforts to curb carbon emissions, Thursday’s announcement will likely be challenged in court. In 2017, the EPA under the Trump Administration rolled back Obama-era carbon emissions rules for power plants after they were blocked by the Supreme Court a year earlier. In a 2022 ruling, the Supreme Court restricted the EPA’s ability to curb emissions from power plants. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson criticized the rules announced on Thursday, telling the Associated Press they were “unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable.”
Tough new EPA rules would force coal-fired power plants to capture emissions or shut down (Associated Press)