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New US rules could stem emissions from coal and gas power plants

12 May 2023

Environmental groups laud the regulation, which would advance clean power in the US – if it survives expected legal challenges

The US is set to impose new carbon pollution standards upon its coal- and gas-fired power plants, in a move that the Biden administration has hailed as a major step in confronting the climate crisis.

Under new rules put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), new and existing power plants will have to meet a range of new standards to cut their emissions of planet-heating gases. This, the EPA predicts, will spur facilities to switch to cleaner energy such as wind and solar, install rarely used carbon capture technology or shut down entirely.In all, the EPA forecasts that the standards would prevent up to 617m tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted from coal and gas plants over the next two decades, which is equivalent to the yearly emissions of around half of all the cars in the US, or nearly double what the entire UK emits in a year. The new rule – if it survives a gamut of expected legal challenges – will help “safeguard the planet for future generations”, according to Michael Regan, the EPA administrator.“Not only will the proposal improve air quality nationwide, it will bring substantial health improvements to communities across this country, especially communities that have unjustly borne the burden of pollution,” Regan said. “The public and environmental benefits of this rule will be tremendous.”The new rule has been welcomed by environmental groups as a potentially pivotal moment that should, in combination with support for clean energy in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, drive down emissions in the power sector, which contributes about a quarter of the US’s overall greenhouse gas pollution.Researchers have warned that without further regulation of major pollution sources, the US – the world’s largest historical emitter of planet-heating gases – will miss its climate targets and risk unleashing ever worsening heatwaves, droughts, flooding and societal upheaval at home and overseas.“The EPA’s proposed rule sends an unequivocal signal to American power plant operators: the era of unlimited carbon pollution is over,” said Dan Lashof, US director of the World Resources Institute, who added that the regulation would result in more than an 80% reduction in carbon pollution from power plants by 2040 compared to 2005 levels.“This is a day for the history books, as the United States locks into the path toward a prosperous, clean and equitable future.,” Lashof said.

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