EPA Regulations Limiting Power Plant Emissions Likely to Be Weakened by Trump [Video]

Recent policies from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would lower emissions and force an early retirement of most U.S. coal plants, speeding up the transition away from fossil fuels with limited cost, a new study shows. However, whether those rules will stay intact during an upcoming Trump administration is doubtful.

The power plant rules, targeting coal-fired power plants specifically, were finalized in May 2024 as supplementary policy supporting the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act’s agenda to reduce carbon emissions.

The study, published in the journal science, used nine computer models to simulate “hypothetical future scenarios to understand impacts of the finalized power plant rules,” lead author John Bistline told EcoWatch in a video call.

“Specifically, we see 73 to 86% reductions by 2040 relative to 2005 levels, and that’s compared to something like 60 to 83% without the rules,” Bistline said.

He added that with and without the rules, the models also …