The move comes in response to pleas from environmental justice groups that the rules do not adequately protect disadvantaged communities that have been breathing unhealthy air for decades. Communities of color and low-income communities are disproportionately located near gas plant smokestacks and other sources of industrial pollution.
that It also comes as President Biden is trying to sell his climate record to voters during his intense re-election campaign against Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Polls show that many voters have not heard of Biden's signature climate law, the Inflation Control Act, while many young people are upset about his administration's approval of a major oil drilling project in Alaska last year. I'm furious.
In May 2023, EPA announced a proposed rule that would require significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from three categories of power plants: existing coal-fired power plants, existing gas power plants, and new gas power plants. did.
The agency announced Thursday that it is still on track to finalize rules for existing coal-fired power plants and new gas power plants in April. But he said establishing rules for existing gas plants would take longer and cover harmful air pollutants in addition to greenhouse gases.
“EPA is working toward final standards to reduce climate pollution from existing coal and new gas-fired power plants later this spring, and the EPA is implementing a new comprehensive standard to cover the entire fleet of natural gas-fired turbines.” “There are more pollutants out there, including climate change, toxic substances, and standard air pollution,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.
“This stronger, more durable approach would achieve greater emissions reductions than current proposals,” Regan added.
Power plants are the nation's second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. They account for about 25 percent of the greenhouse gases produced by the United States.
According to the EPA, stricter standards being considered for existing gas plants include formaldehyde and Nitrogen dioxide damages the lungs.
In a February letter to Mr. Biden and Mr. Reagan, a coalition of environmental justice leaders urged the EPA to strengthen standards for existing gas plants.
“Leaders, including Robert Bullard, a professor at Texas Southern University known as the father of environmentalism, argue that “the EJ community is home to a wide range of polluting industries, including much of the nation's fossil fuel-based electricity sector. ” he wrote. He praised “Justice” for his pioneering work.
“Many of our communities experience the direct impacts of living near existing infrastructure such as coal-fired power plants, gas power plants, pipelines, and mining and refining facilities,” they wrote. There is. “As a result, achieving EJ should be at the heart of any effort to combat pollution from the power sector.”
Major environmental groups also criticized the EPA's proposed rule, saying it would target too few existing gas plants. The proposed rule would apply to just 5 percent of existing gas turbines and leave thousands of plants pumping out emissions, according to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Evergreen Action.
Charles Harper, Evergreen Action's senior power sector policy leader, called on the EPA to finalize stronger standards “as soon as possible” in a statement Thursday.
“Today's announcement means the path to federal carbon limits for existing gas plants is longer than we had hoped, but we are hopeful that the administration will finalize standards for major sources this spring. I am confident that this will continue for a long time,” Harper said.
By contrast, the Edison Electric Association, the largest lobbying group for U.S. power companies, had asked the EPA to ease requirements for existing gas plants. The group argued in public comments that the standard would undermine the reliability of the nation's aging power grid, especially as older coal-fired power plants continue to be retired.
“We appreciate that EPA acknowledges our concerns about the existing proposed regulations for natural gas,” Emily Sanford Fisher, executive vice president of clean energy at the Edison Electric Institute, said in a statement Thursday. Stated.
Abigail Dillen, president of environmental law firm Earthjustice, said she understands the need to delay requirements for existing gas plants. He noted that the proposed rule would not target peak power plants, which can increase electricity production during periods of peak demand, or high-emission gas power plants.
“A comprehensive EPA approach from the perspective of all gas plants and all the pollution they emit is the right step forward,” Dillen said.
The question of how to regulate global warming pollution from power plants Nearly a decade of legal and political controversy. In 2015, President Barack Obama announced the Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon emissions from the nation's power sector by 32 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
But Republican attorneys general and the utility industry challenged the plan in court, arguing that the EPA was overstepping its authority under the Clean Air Act. In 2016, the Supreme Court took the surprising step of putting the regulations on hold before they went into effect nationwide.
In 2019, the Trump administration replaced the Clean Power Plan with its own more generous rules, saying it would lower electricity prices. But in 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit repealed that regulation. The following year, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA could make sweeping changes to the nation's power sector only with the express approval of Congress.
Joseph Goffman, who was recently confirmed by the Senate to head the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, suggested Monday that the agency may adjust its rules for power plants.
“Don't be surprised if what we get out of this process is different in some ways from what we proposed,” Goffman told a meeting of electricity regulators in Washington.
