EPA Finalizes Repeal Of Federal Greenhouse-Gas Limits For Fossil-Fuel Power Plants
On Monday, September 14, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule repealing federal limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from existing coal and new natural-gas power plants at the G20 Energy Summit in Houston.[1]
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the action "the largest deregulatory action of the U.S. power sector in history." NPR The final rule is written to scrap the Biden-era standards and to block future administrations from using the same authority to limit power-plant greenhouse gases.[2] The agency said the repeal will remove more than $300 billion in costs for the power industry.[3] Environmental groups including the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Environmental Defense Fund vowed to sue to try to block the change.[3]
In 2025 the EPA announced it would find that greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil-fuel power plants "do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution." CBS News Earlier in 2026 the agency moved to roll back other climate rules, eliminating greenhouse-gas standards for car tailpipes, easing limits on some refrigerants and repealing the scientific "endangerment finding" that had underpinned its authority to regulate greenhouse gases.[3]
NPR noted that earlier major CO2 rules, including the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, never took effect.[1] MS NOW and other outlets said environmental advocates expect litigation that could give the Supreme Court's conservative majority another chance to limit EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gases.[3]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Monday, September 14, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency formally announced it is repealing Biden-era limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from existing coal and new natural-gas-fired power plants.
- At the G20 Energy Summit in Houston, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the action “the largest deregulatory action of the U.S. power sector in history” and made the announcement alongside senior administration officials.
- Sources familiar with the proposal said the final rule is crafted not only to scrap existing limits but to block future administrations from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants (CBS News).
- The EPA, citing the Associated Press, said the repeal will remove more than $300 billion in costs for the power industry.
- The agency indicated in 2025 it would find that power-plant greenhouse gases 'do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution,' despite agency data showing the power sector produced about 31% of U.S. fossil-fuel carbon emissions in 2023.
- Environmental groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Environmental Defense Fund, warned the repeal will raise local air pollution, impose 'enormous costs' on Americans' health and safety, and said they plan to sue.
- Earlier in 2026 the EPA likewise eliminated greenhouse-gas standards for car tailpipes, eased restrictions on planet-warming refrigerants, and repealed the scientific endangerment finding that had underpinned its authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
- Reporting notes that the U.S. power sector remains the nation's second-largest source of carbon dioxide emissions (behind transportation) and that financial firm Lazard finds large solar and wind projects are now more cost-competitive than new coal and gas plants.
📰 Source Timeline (4)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- On Monday, September 14, 2026, EPA formally announced it is repealing Biden-era limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from existing coal and new natural-gas-fired power plants, rules that were to take effect starting in the 2030s.
- Administrator Lee Zeldin, speaking in Houston at the G20 Energy Summit, called the move "the largest deregulatory action of the U.S. power sector in history."
- Zeldin said EPA is also proposing to rescind "all" remaining greenhouse-gas emissions standards for power plants, going beyond repeal of the specific Biden-era rule.
- The article reiterates that power plants are the second-largest source of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, behind transportation, and notes that financial firm Lazard finds large solar and wind projects are now more cost-competitive than new coal and gas plants.
- Environmental groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center, warned the repeal will increase harmful local air pollution and said they plan to challenge the decision in court.
- The piece situates the action in the legal history from Massachusetts v. EPA (2007) and the 2009 endangerment finding, and notes that previous major power-plant CO2 rules like the Obama-era Clean Power Plan never actually took effect.
- On Monday, September 14, 2026, CBS reported the EPA is expected to announce as soon as that day a final rule repealing limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants.
- Sources familiar with the proposal said the rule is crafted to not only scrap existing limits but also to prevent future administrations from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants.
- The EPA indicated in 2025 it would publish a finding that greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil-fuel power plants 'do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution,' despite its own 2023 data showing the power sector produced 31% of U.S. fossil-fuel carbon emissions, second-highest among industries.
- EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright plan to announce the rule at a G20 'energy abundance' ministerial meeting in Houston.
- Republican President Donald Trump has publicly called climate change 'the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world' and has withdrawn the U.S., for a second time, from the 2015 Paris climate accord.
- Environmental Defense Fund general counsel Vickie Patton said repealing national power-plant climate protections will have 'enormous costs' for Americans' health and safety and argued EPA remains legally responsible for limiting harmful pollution.
- On Monday, September 14, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed it is scrapping rules that limit climate pollution from coal- and natural-gas-fired power plants.
- The Associated Press is cited as reporting that Trump’s EPA says the repeal will remove more than $300 billion in costs for the power industry.
- The article notes that, earlier in 2026, EPA also eliminated greenhouse-gas standards for car tailpipes, eased restrictions on planet-warming refrigerants, and repealed the scientific endangerment finding that underpinned its legal authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
- Environmental groups and energy experts are described as opposing the repeal and are expected to sue, with advocates warning that resulting litigation could give the Supreme Court’s conservative majority an opportunity to curb or bar EPA regulation of greenhouse gases.
- The New York Times is cited as emphasizing that, if viewed as its own country, the U.S. power sector would be the world’s fifth-largest climate polluter.