US Revokes Limits on Power Plants' Climate Pollution

The EPA has repealed the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards that limited greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants, eliminating requirements for existing coal plants to capture 90 percent of carbon emissions by 2039. The repeal removes protections that would have prevented approximately 1,200 deaths and 360,000 asthma attacks annually while reducing carbon pollution by an estimated 1.38 billion metric tons through 2047. The EPA justified the decision on $370 million in claimed business savings but did not address the resulting public health costs, despite the Biden-era standards also reducing harmful pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.