Biden imposes new limits on fossil fuels.

EPA Unveils Strictest-Ever Rules for Power Production

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its strictest-ever rules for power produced using natural gas, coal, and oil. The standards, released on May 11, will affect new and old power infrastructure, including new natural gas turbines and the country’s existing coal fleet. The EPA hopes to induce U.S. power plants to boost their use of certain technologies, including the co-firing of fossil fuels with low-greenhouse gas hydrogen and the capture, sequestration, and storage of carbon.

What the EPA Proposals Mean

• The EPA’s proposals are intended to induce U.S. power plants to boost their use of certain technologies, including the co-firing of fossil fuels with low-greenhouse gas hydrogen and the capture, sequestration, and storage of carbon.
• The agency projects that the standards will help the United States avoid thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of lost workdays, and more than 300,000 asthma attacks just in the year 2030.
• The EPA stated that its proposal offers “ample lead time and substantial compliance flexibilities.”
• The proposals come against a backdrop of various major EPA actions bearing on fossil fuels, including new tailpipe emission standards.

The EPA’s proposals are intended to induce U.S. power plants to boost their use of certain technologies, including the co-firing of fossil fuels with low-greenhouse gas hydrogen and the capture, sequestration, and storage of carbon. The agency projects that the standards will help the United States avoid thousands of premature deaths, tens of thousands of lost workdays, and more than 300,000 asthma attacks just in the year 2030.

The EPA stated that its proposal offers “ample lead time and substantial compliance flexibilities.” That might appear to conflict with President Joe Biden’s aim of achieving “a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035,” as expressed in a 2021 executive order. EPA officials and staff told reporters on May 10 that the ambition was still within reach.

Reaction to the EPA Proposals

Fossil fuel advocates greeted the EPA’s latest with skepticism. “President Joe Biden’s plans to restrict carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, and the inevitable support from environmental organizations, illustrates what is wrong with the so-called green movement,” Tom Harris of the International Climate Science Coalition said in an April statement.

Meanwhile, some environmental groups have rejected carbon capture technology altogether. “Carbon capture is nothing more than a handout to the fossil fuel industry. It perpetuates environmental racism by increasing pollution in communities of color, raising energy bills, and diverting resources away from real solutions,” the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition wrote on Twitter in April.

Other environmental organizations have voiced support for the proposed changes. “These new rules will benefit the climate, the environment, and communities all around the country—particularly those near the power plants,” Paul Arbaje of the Union of Concerned Scientists wrote in a “Disinformation Alert” aimed at criticisms of the rules.