According to Fox News Digital, an industry group called the anticipated rule for power plants “the latest step in President Biden’s anti-fossil fuels agenda.”
The Biden administration is reportedly finalizing up a plan that would require fossil fuel-powered electricity generators to significantly reduce their emission levels or invest in costly equipment to collect carbon.
According to The New York Times on Saturday, citing officials who had seen a draft of the plan, coal- and natural gas-fired power plants would be required to cut or capture the vast majority of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2040 under the proposal that is expected to be released soon by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It would be the first time the federal government really did something to reduce emissions from power plants if the regulation was passed.
Maria Michalos, an EPA spokesperson, told Fox News Digital, “EPA can’t say anything because the proposals are currently being looked at by other agencies.”
“But we have been clear from the beginning that we will use all of our legal tools, based on decades-old bipartisan laws, to deal with dangerous air pollution and protect the air our children breathe today and for generations to come,” added Michalos.
The Office of Management and Budget said in a filing late last year that the EPA intended to submit a proposed rule for the action in the spring of 2023 and a final rule in the summer of 2024. The goal is to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from power facilities that currently utilize fossil fuels. The statement claimed that modern power plants are not restricted from emitting excessive amounts of pollutants by EPA regulations.
There are 3,393 power plants in the United States that run on fossil fuels, according to the latest available official statistics. The vast majority of them run on natural gas. While just approximately 14% of the country’s power comes from renewable sources like wind and solar, over 60% comes from these facilities.
However, the electric power industry is accountable for around 25% of all U.S. emissions, as reported by the EPA. This ranks it second only to the transportation industry and first only to the manufacturing industry. This has led to attacks on fossil fuel power facilities from protestors and Democratic lawmakers. They argue that reducing emissions is necessary to prevent further deterioration of the climate.
Shortly after taking office, President Biden pledged to rid the power sector of carbon pollution by the year 2035 and to reduce national emissions by up to 52% by 2030.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, a prominent environmental group, argued in a recent issue brief that “setting effective, affordable carbon standards for power plants under the Clean Air Act now can ensure that the power industry makes the emission cuts needed to help deal with the climate crisis.” “Time is of the essence.”
According to the document, the EPA must “move swiftly,” establishing carbon requirements for power plants as soon as they said they would and make them public by the beginning of next year. So that we may put an end to this harmful pollution and safeguard the climate as soon as possible, this will allow states and power companies to begin working on putting them into place.
The fossil fuel industry, however, has countered that the United States’ power infrastructure remains highly dependent on coal, natural gas, and gasoline.
“The expected EPA regulation is just the latest part of President Biden’s anti-fossil fuels agenda,” Michelle Bloodworth, president and CEO of America’s Power, a coal power trade association, told Fox News Digital. It will necessitate the decommissioning of power plants vital to the grid modernization process.
She claimed that the EPA’s actions were counter to the concerns of grid operators and other energy experts who had warned of potential electricity shortages.
The Supreme Court of the United States invalidated an Obama administration Clean Air Act regulation capping emissions from power plants in June 2022 on the grounds that Congress had never granted the EPA the authority to do so. However, the EPA now has the authority to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases because to the Inflation Reduction Act, which was approved two months after the court’s judgment.