The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has partially lifted existing limits on greenhouse gas emissions for coal and gas power plants, The Hill reports.
EPA chief Lee Zeldin announced the repeal of the standards introduced in 2024 during a meeting of G20 energy ministers. They stipulated that by 2039, coal and some gas power plants would have to “capture” and store a significant portion of carbon dioxide emissions underground. For gas plants, the rules also allowed for a switch to cleaner fuels, including hydrogen, which does not directly produce carbon dioxide when burned.
Zeldin accused the administrations of Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden of waging a “war on coal,” which he said led to the premature closure of many coal-fired power plants. The EPA says lifting the restrictions will save about $310 billion.
“For more than 15 years, the Obama and Biden administrations waged a war on coal, seeking to destroy reliable and affordable energy. The Trump administration is here to protect American energy and make sure Americans can afford their electricity bills,” Zeldin said.
The EPA said that emissions from American power plants “do not have a significant impact on global climate change.” The agency also argues that even a complete cessation of carbon dioxide emissions from this sector would not have a significant impact on the global climate.
However, not all environmental requirements introduced under the Joe Biden administration are being repealed. EPA Assistant Administrator Aaron Sabo told reporters that parts of the rule will remain. Thus, some restrictions on emissions of mercury, arsenic and other pollutants will remain in force for power plants, writes the New York Times.
At the same time, the EPA proposed changing the legal framework for regulating carbon dioxide emissions from power plants as part of the Clean Air Act. If the proposal is approved, it could limit the ability of future administrations to impose new climate requirements for the electricity sector.
The move effectively extends to power plants the administration's decision in February to rescind the so-called Endangerment Finding, the EPA's 2009 scientific finding that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare.
The use of coal in the American electricity sector has been declining for decades. While in 1990 it accounted for more than half of the country's total electricity generation, in 2025 its share dropped to about 17%.
The electricity sector remains one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases in the United States, second only to the transportation sector in terms of emissions. Its emissions rose 4% last year.
No new coal power plants have come online in the United States for about 13 years. But this summer, US President Donald Trump's administration pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support new coal power projects in Alaska and West Virginia.
The Trump administration is seeking to make it easier and cheaper to extract and use fossil fuels primarily for power generation amid rapidly growing demand from data centers.
