‘Too little to be worth regulating’: Trump’s EPA claims America’s power plants don’t pollute enough to matter for climate change

The Trump administration announced Wednesday its plans to revoke limits on power plants’ climate pollution, effectively dismantling a key strategy in fighting one of the nation’s largest sources of greenhouse gases. The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal would remove regulations on both existing and future facilities that use coal or natural gas.

According to Politico, the move comes amid broader changes in the administration’s climate policy, including the closure of climate change offices, the dismissal of scientists, and the freezing of billions in renewable energy project funding. Power plants, which are the second-largest source of U.S. climate pollution after transportation, will no longer face restrictions on their carbon dioxide emissions.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has taken a controversial stance, arguing that electricity-generating facilities “are a small and decreasing part of global emissions” and contribute too little climate pollution globally to warrant regulation. This position comes despite the United States being the world’s second-largest climate polluter after China, with the U.S. power sector emitting more carbon than all but five countries.

Power sector’s contribution to global emissions raises concerns

According to EPA data, power plants are responsible for nearly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for approximately 2.7 percent of global climate pollution. The agency’s new rule argues that these emissions are not significant enough to regulate, citing cost-effective control measures as not being reasonably available and emphasizing the administration’s priority of promoting energy independence through fossil fuels.

The proposal has drawn criticism from environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island challenged the EPA’s position, stating that power plant emissions in the United States are a significant part of global emissions and that it’s “just plain false to pretend this isn’t a big deal.”

If courts uphold the EPA rule, which is expected to be finalized this year, it could exempt the government from having to regulate climate emissions from other stationary sources, including refineries and industrial facilities. The administration is also rolling back a separate Biden-era rule on toxic mercury emissions from power plants.

The United States has historically contributed one-fifth of the pollution driving climate change and remains the world’s second-largest source of greenhouse gases. Research from Stanford University indicates that climate change-related weather events have already resulted in significant economic impacts, with heavier precipitation causing 36 percent of U.S. financial losses from flooding and hotter temperatures leading to about 20 percent of insured crop losses over a nearly 30-year period.