CEI praises EPA Administrator for proposing the repeal of greenhouse gas rule and to amend mercury rule

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin today announced the forthcoming proposed repeal of the Biden era Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, along with a proposed repeal of amendments to the controversial 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. Daren Bakst, director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment, praised both sensible, urgently needed reforms.

Regarding the proposed repeal of Biden’s Clean Power Plan 2.0:

“The Biden EPA’s greenhouse gas regulation for power plants is an attack on electricity reliability and affordability. As with Obama’s Clean Power Plan struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Biden administration rule would unlawfully make the EPA the nation’s grid manager. The rule would kill off reliable sources of electricity like coal and natural gas and centrally plan a shift to unreliable sources of electricity like wind and solar.

“The Biden administration apparently thought Americans would be fine with expensive energy and blackouts and brownouts, showing how out of touch the Biden EPA was with the American people and common sense. Higher electricity prices will devastate Americans, especially low-income Americans. But such serious concerns get ignored when the far left pushes its extreme climate agenda, and that’s what happened with the Biden EPA’s greenhouse gas power plant rule.

“I commend EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and the Trump administration for taking much-needed action that puts the well-being of Americans over the interests of the extreme climate agenda.”

Regarding the proposed repeal of amendments to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards:

“The EPA has long been misleading the public about its rules regarding mercury emissions from power plants. Back in 2012, the EPA had to strain to find any quantified benefits of reducing mercury emissions. The benefits of reducing hazardous air pollutant emissions, including mercury, were estimated to be a miniscule $4-$6 million a year compared to $9.6 billion a year in costs. The costs were 1,600-2400 times greater than the benefits. In the latest Biden rule on mercury, the Biden EPA didn’t quantify a single dollar worth of benefits from reducing mercury emission. If that isn’t bad enough, the Biden EPA showed that its rule would lead to net costs.

“Once again, Administrator Lee Zeldin and the Trump EPA are taking a common-sense regulatory action, in this case to address a rule that would create more harm than good based on the Biden EPA’s own regulatory analysis.”

Marlo Lewis, CEI senior fellow, added:

“The Biden EPA’s May 2024 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards rule for fossil-fuel powerplants is an unlawful assault on affordable energy and grid reliability. The rule’s 90 percent carbon capture and storage (CCS) requirement for existing baseload coal power plants is projected to decrease US coal generation by 89 percent below baseline projections by 2045.

“The rule’s 90-percent CCS requirement for new baseload natural gas combined cycle powerplants will effectively preclude construction of new natural gas baseload generation. Far from being an “adequately demonstrated” “best system of emission reduction” for gas generation, no utility scale natural gas CCS plant exists today. Only one small-scale facility was ever built — Florida Power & Light’s 40 MW CCS gas plant in Bellingham, Massachusetts. It closed in 2005.

“In addition to making US electric power more costly and less reliable, the Biden EPA’s May 2024 GHG standards rule defies West Virginia v. EPA (2022), the Supreme Court ruling that vacated the Obama EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP). Whether coal and gas powerplants should be forced out of the nation’s electricity supply system is undeniably a major question of national policy. The EPA may not decide that question absent a clear statement of congressional authorization. In West Virginia, the Court ruled that Section 111 of the Clean Air Act does not come “close to the sort of clear authorization required” to “delegate authority of this breadth to regulate a fundamental sector of the economy.” Instead of heeding the Court, the Biden EPA proposed and finalized a CPP on steroids.

“CEI commends EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and the Trump administration for taking decisive action to restore economic liberty, common sense regulation, and the rule of law to the electric power sector.