U.S. EPA to Eliminate Limits on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Power Plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed on May 24 local time that it is drafting a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. coal- and gas-fired power plants. The plan will be released after an interdepartmental review. The EPA argues in the proposed regulations that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from fossil-fuel-burning power plants “will not have a significant impact on hazardous pollution or climate change” because they are a small and declining share of global emissions. But data on the EPA’s website show that in the U.S., the power sector is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after transportation. Globally, power plants emit about 30 percent of the total pollutants that contribute to climate change.