The Trump administration said on Monday that it will repeal rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas power plants. The EPA also proposed rolling back its own authority to regulate that pollution in the future.
What is being removed
The change overturns standards set in 2024 for existing coal plants and new gas plants. The agency argues the rules threatened grid reliability at a time when electricity demand is rising, driven by data centers, industry and electrification. The proposal also would make it harder for later administrations to write similar rules.
Power plants are the second-largest source of US climate pollution after transportation, making up close to a quarter of the national total. US power plants alone account for roughly 3% of global climate pollution.
Reaction
Environmental groups said the repeal will increase emissions and harm public health. "Without these standards, dirty coal and fossil fueled power plants can spew as much carbon pollution into the atmosphere as they please," said Meredith Hankins, federal climate legal director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Michael Gerrard of Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law said 2026 is shaping up to be the warmest year in recorded history.
Wider context
US planet-heating emissions rose in 2025, reversing a downward trend, partly because power plants burned more coal. Coal demand in the United States is expected to fall about 7% in 2026. The repeal lands weeks before Climate Week NYC, and shortly after a UN Environment Programme report said global warming is nearing 1.4C and rising at about 0.25C per decade, with a 1.5C overshoot now likely within a few years.