Biden’s environmental rule may lead to complete shutdown of coal and gas plants.

EPA’s Emission Standards: A Near-Impossible Challenge for Coal and Gas Plants

The Problem with Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency Standards

The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently unveiled stringent emission standards that require coal and gas power plants to reduce their carbon emissions by 90% between 2035 and 2040. To meet these standards, the EPA is advising the plants to use carbon capture technology to store the emissions underground before they hit the atmosphere. However, this technology is both expensive and largely unproven, and no power plant in the country currently uses it. Implementing carbon capture would require the construction of billions of dollars in pipelines to funnel emissions underground. As a result, energy experts and federal lawmakers are arguing that the standards are aimed at regulating fossil fuel plants out of business.

The Impact of the Standards on America’s Power Grid and Energy Independence

Coal and gas combine to generate roughly 60% of America’s electricity, and without those energy sources, “Biden will have overseen the dismantling of the least expensive, most reliable large power system in the world,” according to Heartland Institute environmental policy expert Sterling Burnett. The materials needed to produce Biden’s preferred green energy alternatives—wind and solar—are also controlled by China, making green electricity “the death knell of America’s global economic competitiveness and a dream come true for a hostile China,” according to Heartland Institute president James Taylor. “We simply cannot remain globally competitive if we eliminate the utilization of America’s most affordable, reliable energy sources,” Taylor said.

The Legal Challenges to the Rule

The administration’s optimism could be dashed by impending legal challenges to the rule. Energy and Environment Legal Institute senior fellow Steve Milloy said the “illegal” rule “has no chance of withstanding legal scrutiny” given a recent Supreme Court ruling that limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate fossil fuel power plants. Former George W. Bush environmental official Jeff Holmstead, meanwhile, said the rule has “serious legal vulnerabilities” given its reliance on questionable carbon capture technology. “I don’t think it would be that hard to say, ‘Look, this technology hasn’t been adequately demonstrated yet,'” Holmstead told Politico.

The Bottom Line

The EPA’s emission standards mandate the use of green technology that “doesn’t really exist,” according to experts. The standards are forcing coal and gas plants to adopt expensive, unproven green technology or shut down. While the Biden administration defends its power plant rule, legal challenges and the crippling effect on America’s power grid and energy independence remain major concerns.

• Biden’s EPA is imposing near-impossible emission standards on coal and gas plants
• Carbon capture technology is expensive and largely unproven
• Regulating fossil fuel plants out of business could have a crippling effect on America’s power grid and energy independence
• The legal challenges to the rule are significant

The bottom line: The EPA’s emission standards mandate the use of green technology that “doesn’t really exist,” according to experts. The standards are forcing coal and gas plants to adopt expensive, unproven green technology or shut down. While the Biden administration defends its power plant rule, legal challenges and the crippling effect on America’s power grid and energy independence remain major concerns.