EPA to eliminate limits on climate pollution from power plants
The rule, which is expected to face immediate legal challenges, also could prevent future administrations from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, sources said.
Updated on: September 14, 2026 / 2:10 PM EDT / CBS News
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to repeal rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action that Administrator Lee Zeldin has said would remove billions of dollars in costs for the industry and help "unleash" American energy.
The rule change, proposed last year, could be announced as soon as Monday, according to two people familiar with the proposal, and represents a fundamental shift from efforts by Democratic Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to address climate change and clean up industrial pollution, often in low-income and majority Black or Hispanic communities.
The EPA did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.
The EPA said last year it would publish a finding that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants "do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution," although the agency's own data from 2023 showed that the power sector produced 31% of carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels, the second-highest of all industries.