Note: This article has been updated on September 15th to reflect the most recent developments at the time of writing.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has formally rescinded carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants on Sept. 14.
The regulatory rollback – the administration’s latest major shift in federal climate policy – coincided with a Group of 20 energy ministers’ meeting in Houston, Texas.
The move follows earlier 2026 actions by the EPA to rescind vehicle climate standards and challenge the landmark 2009 endangerment finding, which established that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health. The agency first proposed unwinding power plant climate regulations last summer.
Scrapping Carbon Capture Mandates Under the Clean Air Act
This week, the EPA finalized a core element of its initial proposal by scrapping mandates enacted during the Biden administration.
Those rules required both existing and new fossil fuel-fired power plants to deploy specific emissions-reduction technologies to curb greenhouse gases over the coming decades.
Central to those rescinded mandates was the required adoption of carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems for power generation facilities. The move has already sparked criticism from climate activists, government officials and industry representatives.
Relevant: Coal Generation And Hot Weather Push US Power Emissions Up 4%
“Every American deserves to breathe clean air, but time and again this administration gives a green light to more pollution at the expense of our health,” said America Is All InChair Gina McCarthy, the 13th US EPA Administrator and former White House National Climate Advisor.
“Everyone will be affected by their actions, but the most vulnerable among us, our kids and grandkids, will suffer the most. Today’s decision lets the nation’s biggest industrial polluters off the hook by reversing findings the agency itself established. The Clean Air Act is clear: EPA has a statutory obligation to regulate significant sources of pollution that threaten public health, and power plants are among the largest sources in the country. State and local leaders will not stop fighting for that protection.”
US Climate Alliance Executive Director Casey Katims stated: “Once again, the federal government is disregarding Americans’ health and safety by allowing more and more greenhouse gas pollution from power plants to spew into our communities.”
