{"slug":"epa-power-plant-carbon-standards-repeal","title":"EPA Repeals Power Plant Carbon Standards and Proposes Ending Federal Greenhouse Gas Limits on the Power Sector","date":"2026-09-14","lastUpdated":"2026-09-21","description":"On September 14, 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, speaking at a G20 energy ministers' meeting in Houston, finalized repeal of most of the 2024 carbon pollution standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants -- including the requirement that long-running coal plants and new baseload gas turbines cut carbon emissions by 90% through carbon capture -- and proposed rescinding all remaining greenhouse gas standards for the power sector. The power sector produces roughly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. EPA asserted that power plant emissions have 'no material impact on global climate change' and that associated health harms are 'too uncertain, conjectural, remote, and convoluted' to tie to the sector.","summary":"The EPA repealed most federal limits on carbon pollution from coal and gas power plants -- about a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions -- and proposed eliminating the rest, asserting that the sector's emissions have no material climate impact.","category":"federal-dismantlement","severity":"major","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-finalizes-repeal-2024-power-plant-regulations-delivering-300-billion-savings","title":"EPA Finalizes Repeal of 2024 Power Plant Regulations, Delivering $300+ Billion in Savings, Proposes Repeal of All Remaining Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Power Plants","publisher":"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency"},{"url":"https://abcnews.com/US/epa-announces-repeal-power-plant-emissions-limits/story?id=136430653","title":"What to know as EPA announces repeal of power plant emissions limits","publisher":"ABC News"},{"url":"https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2026/sep/14/epa-is-set-to-eliminate-rule-that-limits-planet-warming-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-power-plants/","title":"EPA is set to eliminate rule that limits planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants","publisher":"Associated Press (via Daily Inter Lake)"},{"url":"https://www.jw.com/news/insights-epa-carbon-pollution-ghg-regulation/","title":"EPA Repeals Most of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards — and Proposes to End Power-Plant GHG Regulation Entirely","publisher":"Jackson Walker"},{"url":"https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/09/21/epa-repeals-power-plant-carbon-standards-2/","title":"EPA repeals power plant carbon standards","publisher":"Ballotpedia News"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["EPA","climate change","power plants","greenhouse gases","Clean Air Act","deregulation","public health"],"relatedEntries":["environmental-regulatory-destruction"],"timeline":[{"date":"2026-09-14","title":"Repeal finalized at G20 energy meeting","summary":"Administrator Lee Zeldin announces at a G20 energy ministerial in Houston that EPA has finalized repeal of most of the 2024 carbon pollution standards for coal- and gas-fired power plants, calling it 'the largest deregulatory action for the United States power sector in American history,' and proposes rescinding all remaining greenhouse gas standards for the sector on the theory that Clean Air Act Section 111 never authorized them."},{"date":"2026-09-14","title":"Environmental and health groups vow legal challenge","summary":"The Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club say they will challenge the repeal; NRDC calls it 'a clear violation of the Clean Air Act.'"}],"location":{"name":"Houston, Texas","lat":29.7604,"lng":-95.3698},"custom":{"era":"second-term","posture":"executive-action","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change","article":"Article 4(2)(a)","provision":"Commitment of developed-country parties to adopt national policies and measures to mitigate climate change by limiting anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (signed, not ratified by the United States)","article":"Article 12(2)(b)","provision":"Improvement of all aspects of environmental hygiene as a component of the right to health"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"U.S. residents exposed to the health and climate consequences of continued power-plant emissions, including communities facing extreme heat and flooding; future generations bearing cumulative climate harm","perpetrators":"EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin; the Trump administration","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Lee Zeldin","role":"Administrator; signed the final repeal and the proposed rescission","institution":"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2026-09-21","summary":"Entry created covering the September 14, 2026 final repeal and companion proposal."}],"keyPoints":["On September 14, 2026, EPA finalized repeal of most of the 2024 carbon pollution standards for fossil-fuel power plants and proposed rescinding all remaining power-sector greenhouse gas standards.","Repealed: the 90% carbon-capture requirement for existing coal units, the 40% gas co-firing requirement for medium-term coal units, carbon-capture standards for new baseload gas turbines, and requirements for existing gas/oil steam units.","The power sector accounts for about 24% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the second-largest source.","EPA projects about $310 billion in compliance savings from the final repeal and $370 million more from the proposed rescission.","EPA asserts power plant emissions have 'no material impact on global climate change' and that 'if all carbon dioxides were eliminated tomorrow, there would be no meaningful climate impact.'","An AP examination found the broader set of rules targeted by the Trump EPA could prevent an estimated 30,000 deaths and save $275 billion each year they are in effect."],"legalBasis":"Clean Air Act Section 111; Administrative Procedure Act; UNFCCC Article 4(2)(a); ICESCR Article 12(2)(b)","postureNote":"The proposal to rescind remaining standards is subject to a public hearing and a 45-day comment period following Federal Register publication. Environmental and public-health groups announced legal challenges. Health-impact figures in this entry are the Associated Press's estimate for the broader set of targeted rules, not an EPA estimate for this action; EPA did not quantify forgone health benefits.","relatedIncidents":["environmental-regulatory-destruction"]}}