US EPA wants to end greenhouse caps for coal, gas-fired power plants
The EPA argued in its proposal that eliminating those emissions would have no meaningful effect on public health and welfare
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed on Saturday that it was drafting a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases from coal and gas-fired power plants in the United States and would be published after inter-agency review.
“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,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “As part of this reconsideration, EPA is developing a proposed rule.”
The draft plan was first reported by The New York Times, which said the EPA argued in its proposed regulation that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants that burn fossil fuels “do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution” or to climate change because they are a small and declining share of global emissions.
The EPA also said that eliminating those emissions would have no meaningful effect on public health and welfare, the report added.
According to the United Nations, fossil fuels are by far the largest contributors to global warming, accounting for more than 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions.
The US government under President Donald Trump has moved quickly to remove all federal spending related to efforts to combat climate change and to eliminate any regulation aimed at addressing greenhouse gas emissions as part of its effort to bolster oil, gas and mining operations.