Trump administration removes climate pollution limits on power plants

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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.

The announcement was made Monday at a meeting of G20 energy ministers in Houston, Texas.

“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.

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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 are saying 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 by 2032.

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.

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Biden administration finalizes new rules for power plants in one of its most significant climate actions to-date

The Trump administration’s EPA first 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. The EPA said Monday 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 US, after transportation, making up nearly 25% of the nation’s climate pollution. US power plants alone contribute 3% of total global climate pollution.

As well as overturning the 2024 standards, the EPA is proposing 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 in place certain rules 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.

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. GeAlthough 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, especially 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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特朗普政府最终废除了限制燃煤和燃气发电厂排放温室气体的法规，这是其全面瓦解气候和清洁空气保护措施的最新举措。

该消息于周一在德克萨斯州休斯顿举行的二十国集团能源部长会议上宣布。

“在过去的15年里，奥巴马和拜登政府对煤炭发动了战争，企图摧毁可靠且价格合理的能源。特朗普政府上台是为了保护美国能源，确保你们能够负担得起电费，”环境保护署署长李·泽尔丁说道。

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该机构表示，这项政策调整将节省 3100 亿美元，降低电价，并“释放”美国的能源潜力，包括煤炭和天然气。

环保组织强烈批评了这一举措，并表示将诉诸法律。“特朗普政府这是在给化石燃料行业发放继续污染的许可证，”塞拉俱乐部首席项目官霍莉·本德说，并补充道，该组织“将动用一切力量，在法庭、国会和社区中反击这项鲁莽而危险的提案。”

此次政策倒退推翻了 2024 年拜登时代的标准，该标准旨在通过强制煤炭和新建燃气发电厂减少碳排放或使用排放技术在 2032 年前捕获 90% 的气候污染，从而减少发电厂的碳排放。

该规定预计将使该行业的碳排放量比 2005 年的峰值减少 75%。美国环保署在宣布该规定时预测，仅在 2035 年，该规定就能防止 1200 例过早死亡，并在 2047 年前产生 1200 亿美元的健康效益。

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拜登政府最终敲定了针对发电厂的新规，这是迄今为止最重要的气候行动之一。

特朗普政府时期的环保署去年首次提出要针对这些标准，理由是化石燃料发电厂“对《清洁空气法》定义的‘危险’空气污染贡献不大”。环保署周一表示，发电厂的排放“对全球气候变化没有实质性影响”。

在美国，发电厂是仅次于交通运输的第二大温室气体排放源，占全国气候污染的近25%。仅美国发电厂就占全球气候污染总量的3%。

除了推翻2024年的标准外，美国环保署还提议削弱其对发电厂气候污染的监管权力。如果这一提议获得通过，未来的政府将无法对这些排放进行监管。

尽管周一的废除令仍然保留了限制汞和铅等空气污染物的某些规定，但这些标准已经被削弱了。

在唐纳德·特朗普总统的领导下，美国环保署（EPA）一直在大力放松监管，特朗普曾称气候变化是“骗局”，清洁能源是“骗局”。周一的公告是本届政府全面削弱气候法规、鼓励化石燃料能源发展的最新举措。

今年2月，该机构推翻了其2009年作出的科学结论，即二氧化碳和其他温室气体对公众健康构成威胁。这项所谓的“危害认定”曾是美国环保署限制工业温室气体排放的权力基础。

与此同时，该机构废除了监管车辆气候污染的规则，这些规则是在拜登政府时期通过的，旨在推动汽车行业向混合动力和电动汽车及卡车转型。

当前这种倒退的局面，正值特朗普政府大力推动化石燃料（尤其是污染最严重的化石燃料——煤炭）的使用之际。

特朗普政府已下令几座老旧的燃煤发电厂在计划退役日期之后继续运行，并在 6 月份宣布将提供超过 1 亿美元的联邦资金，用于建设两座采用碳捕获技术的新燃煤发电厂。

它正在产生影响。2025年，美国记录到全球变暖污染增加，扭转了此前的下降趋势，部分原因是发电厂燃烧更多煤炭。尽管预计2026年美国煤炭需求将下降7%，扭转2025年的暂时性增长。

特朗普政府辩称，鉴于耗电量巨大的数据中心、工业和电气化导致电力需求飙升，政府正在努力提高电网的可靠性。

尽管政府声称在电网中增加煤炭发电将降低美国人的电费，但一些专家认为，这可能会适得其反，因为燃煤发电通常比天然气和可再生能源更贵。

环保组织指责特朗普政府优先考虑工业利益。“特朗普政府再次执意将化石燃料污染者的利益置于美国人民的健康和福祉之上，”忧思科学家联盟气候与能源项目高级政策主任雷切尔·克利图斯表示。

哈佛大学法学院环境与能源法项目执行主任凯莉·詹克斯表示，废除该法案也意味着市场的不确定性，尤其对于电力公司而言，因为此举几乎肯定会面临法律挑战。“这种不确定性给他们带来了很多麻烦，他们将不得不考虑不同的应对方案，”她说。

美国环保署的这项政策调整正值美国有记录以来最热的夏季，期间野火、洪水和酷热的穹顶肆虐。

“特朗普政府的环保署废除这些标准，无视气候变化的现实，简直是鸵鸟政策，”自然资源保护委员会联邦气候法律主任梅雷迪思·汉金斯说。“没有这些标准，肮脏的煤炭和化石燃料发电厂就可以随心所欲地向大气中排放大量的碳污染。”