US scraps limits on emissions from coal and gas power plants

Rules aimed at limiting pollution from coal and gas power plants are being scrapped, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced.

The agency says that getting rid of the majority of the Biden-era rules, aimed at improving health and curbing climate change, will save $310bn (£223bn) and lead to a decrease in energy prices.

“The reality is that America produces energy better and cleaner than anywhere else in the world, and our power plants should not be unfairly targeted,” the head of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, said.

Some have criticised the move, arguing it will affect public health and set back progress on developing renewable energy sources.

Fossil fuels, which include coal and natural gas, are by far the largest driver of global climate change, according to the United Nations.

The EPA said in a statement that it found the rules on power plant emissions that were introduced under former President Joe Biden had “exceeded the agency’s authority” by “requiring control technologies that are not adequately demonstrated, effectively forcing plants to retire rather than setting standards they could actually meet”.

The EPA is also seeking to get rid of all other greenhouse gas rules for the power sector.

The changes were proposed last year by Zeldin, who said they would “ensure affordable and reliable energy supplies and drive down the costs of transportation, heating, utilities, farming, and manufacturing while boosting our national security”.

The Biden-era regulations called for a major reduction in carbon emissions from power plants, as well as vehicles and industrial facilities. It was predicted that the measures would stop 4,500 premature deaths annually.

“Any potential public health harms are too uncertain, conjectural, remote, and convoluted to tie specifically to the US power sector,” the EPA said on Monday.