Trump administration removes climate pollution limits on power plants

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has finalized the repeal of regulations that limit the amount of planet-heating pollution coal- and gas-fired power plants are allowed to produce, the latest step in a sweeping effort to dismantle climate and clean air protections.

A Trump administration official made the announcement Monday at a meeting of G20 energy ministers in Houston.

"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," said Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The agency said the rollback will save $310 billion, reduce electricity prices and "unleash" America's energy, including coal and natural gas.

Environmental organizations have heavily criticized the move and say they will take the issue to court. "The Trump administration is handing the fossil fuel industry a license to keep polluting," said Holly Bender, chief program officer at the Sierra Club, adding that the organization "will fight back against this reckless and dangerous proposal with everything we have in the courts, in Congress, and in communities."

The rollback overturns 2024 Biden-era standards, which aimed to reduce carbon emissions from power plants by compelling coal and new gas-powered plants to either cut or use emissions technology to capture 90% of their climate pollution.

The rule was projected to reduce carbon pollution from the sector by 75% compared to its 2005 peak. When it was announced, the EPA projected that it would prevent 1,200 premature deaths in 2035 alone, and produce $120 billion in health benefits through 2047.

The Trump administration's EPA initially proposed targeting these standards last year, arguing fossil fuel-fired power plants "do not contribute significantly" to "dangerous" air pollution as defined by the Clean Air Act. On Monday the EPA said that power plant emissions have "no material impact on global climate change."

Power plants are the second largest source of planet-heating pollution in the U.S., after transportation, making up nearly 25% of the nation's climate pollution. U.S. power plants alone contribute 3% of total global climate pollution.

As well as overturning the 2024 standards, the EPA wants to roll back its authority to regulate climate pollution from power plants. If successful, this could prevent future administrations from being able to regulate these emissions.

Monday's repeal still leaves certain rules in place limiting air pollutants such as mercury and lead, although these standards have already been weakened.

The EPA has been on a deregulatory spree under President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a "hoax" and clean energy a "scam." Monday's announcement is the latest part of the administration's comprehensive effort to strip back climate rules and incentivize fossil fuel energy.

In February, the agency overturned its own scientific finding, made in 2009, that carbon dioxide and other planet-heating gases are a threat to public health. The so-called endangerment finding had underpinned the EPA's authority to limit climate pollution from industry.

At the same time, the agency repealed rules that regulate climate pollution from vehicles, which had been passed under the Biden administration to shift the industry toward hybrid and electric cars and trucks.

The current rollback is happening as the Trump administration pushes for more fossil fuels, notably coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Trump administration has ordered several aging coal-fired power plants to stay online after their planned retirement dates and in June, announced it would give more than $100 million in federal funding toward two new coal plants with carbon capture technology.

It's having an impact. In 2025, the US recorded an increase in planet-heating pollution, reversing a previous downward trend, driven in part by power plants burning more coal. Although coal demand in the US is expected to fall by 7% in 2026, reversing a temporary increase in 2025.

The Trump administration argues it is working to prop up the reliability of the grid, given soaring electricity demand due to power-hungry data centers, industry and electrification.

But despite the administration's claims that more coal on the grid will make electricity cheaper for Americans, some experts argue it could do the opposite as coal-fired power is often more expensive than natural gas and renewables.

Environmental groups have accused the administration of prioritizing industry. "The Trump administration is once again intent on putting the interests of fossil fuel polluters above the health and wellbeing of the American people," said Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director with the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The repeal also means market uncertainty for power companies, as the move will almost certainly face legal challenge, said Carrie Jenks, executive director of the environmental and energy law program at Harvard Law School. "This uncertainty creates a lot of havoc for them, and they're going to have to think through different scenarios," she said.

The EPA rollback comes against the backdrop of the US's hottest summer on record, punctuated by wildfires, floods and searing heat domes.

"By repealing these standards, the Trump EPA is burying its head in the sand and ignoring the reality of climate change," said Meredith Hankins, federal climate legal director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Without these standards, dirty coal and fossil-fueled power plants can spew as much carbon pollution into the atmosphere as they please."

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