The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to rescind regulations introduced under the Biden administration that aimed to significantly curb emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants using carbon capture technology.
According to an EPA spokesperson, the agency has been re-evaluating the 2024 rule — unofficially dubbed “Clean Power Plan 2.0” — since March. The rule would have required coal plants operating beyond 2039 to slash carbon emissions by 90%, and placed even tighter controls on new natural gas plants.
These reductions were predicated on the use of large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS), a technology that remains commercially unproven at the required scale.
The EPA did not disclose specific details about the rollback but confirmed that the revised proposal is undergoing interagency review and will be released once signed by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. This latest move continues a back-and-forth over federal authority to regulate power plant emissions.
The Obama-era Clean Power Plan sought to shift power generation toward low-carbon sources, but was replaced by the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule.
That rule was struck down by a federal court, and the Supreme Court later ruled in 2022 that the EPA had overstepped its legal authority under the Clean Air Act. The Biden administration’s regulation, finalized in early 2024, immediately faced lawsuits from Republican-led states, energy companies, and coal industry groups.
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“Many have voiced concerns that the last administration’s replacement for that rule is similarly overreaching and an attempt to shut down affordable and reliable electricity generation in the United States, raising prices for American families, and increasing the country’s reliance on foreign forms of energy,” an EPA spokesperson said. “As part of this reconsideration, EPA is developing a proposed rule.”
Opponents argue that carbon capture remains too costly and technically uncertain, and say the vast infrastructure required to store captured CO2 safely underground is not yet in place — especially for the nation’s roughly 200 operating coal plants.
The EPA’s forthcoming plan signals a potential shift away from top-down emissions mandates, and toward a more incremental or state-led approach to regulating power sector emissions.
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