On May 24, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed that it is drafting a major policy change that plans to fully eliminate federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. The revelation quickly sparked widespread controversy in the environmental, energy, and political arenas. Environmental organizations strongly condemned the decision “to open history backwards”, while supporters called “the return of reason”, symbolizing a strategic shift in U.S. energy policy.
Emission Standards Reversal Marks Major Policy Shift
According to a draft statement released by the EPA on the 24th, the agency is planning to repeal emissions regulations established under the previous administration to curb warming, particularly limits on carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases emitted by the power generation industry. The draft states that “current emissions standards are controversial on both scientific and legal grounds, and their implementation constitutes an undue disruption to energy stability and economic growth.” This adjustment, once it goes into effect, will mean that hundreds of coal and natural gas-fired power plants in the U.S. will no longer be subject to carbon emission limit requirements at the federal level. This will also completely overturn the Biden administration, “Clean Power Plan 2.0” of the core content, so that the United States ‘ clean energy transition in the national strategy is facing major changes.
Borrowing the Supreme Court Ruling for the Policy “Loosening”
Notably, the draft cites a key U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2022 as the legal basis. At that time, the court ruled that the EPA “may not, in its sole judgment, compel electric utilities to shift to renewable energy in their choice of technology pathways,” meaning that the government does not have the authority to redefine the way the power industry operates based on carbon emissions. EPA says the new policy will focus more on “flexibility and legitimacy” and aim to “reduce regulatory burdens and encourage local solutions”. Under the logic of the draft, the overall share of carbon emissions from the U.S. power sector is declining, and the marginal impact of emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants on the overall climate is no longer “decisive.
Environmental Backlash: 25% Emissions Too Big to Ignore
Environmental organizations and climate policy experts have voiced strong opposition to the EPA’s plan. According to the National Council for Environmental Research, the power generation sector accounts for about 25% of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Of these, coal-fired power generation is one of the highest single-carbon-emitting industrial sectors. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said in a statement, “Abandoning limits on carbon emissions from power plants is tantamount to self-defeating climate commitments. Not only does it undermine the United States’ international credibility in the Paris Agreement, but it will also have long-term negative impacts on air quality, public health, and ecological safety.” Former EPA climate policy advisor Samantha Green noted, “The trend toward lower carbon emissions is not a reason for policies to be laissez-faire. Quite the contrary, we need stronger regulations to ensure that this trend continues, rather than handing it back to market gaming.”
Energy Sector Divided as States Mull Own Standards
Attitudes within the power industry toward the draft are polarized. Energy companies in traditional coal-burning states welcomed the move as a way to reduce compliance costs and avoid an over-concentration of investment in subsidized renewables. Clean-energy advocates, states represented by California and New York EPA, on the other hand, said they will continue to maintain local emissions standards and may introduce stricter state policies to fight the feds.
In a briefing, the California Environmental Quality Board said, “Even if the federal government abdicates its responsibilities, we will not. California will continue to impose independent carbon emission limits on coal-fired power plants to maintain the air health and climate security of the state’s citizens.” Analysts pointed out that this policy adjustment, although it belongs to the federal administrative sphere, but because it touches on key issues such as the interpretation of the Clean Air Act and the distribution of federal and state power, it is bound to trigger a greater game at the legal and political levels in the future.
White House Review Nears, Legal Challenges Loom from Greens
The draft has been submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for inter-agency review, and is expected to enter the public comment phase in the next one to two months and be formally implemented within the year. Environmental organizations have made it clear that they will file a federal lawsuit challenging the legality and reasonableness of the policy as soon as it is officially released. Brian Harris, Executive Director of the Environmental Law Partnership (EELP), said, “The EPA is moving away from the original purpose of its existence. We will present the court with exhaustive evidence that this policy not only violates the scientific consensus, but also the scope of its constitutional mandate.”
U.S. Climate Pledge Wavers Amid Diplomatic Pushback
This policy change has also raised international concern. At the recently concluded UN Climate Summit, the United States pledged to “achieve zero net emissions from the power sector by 2035”. Now, as one of the largest sources of carbon, thermal power industry regulation is abolished, is bound to have an impact on the U.S. emissions reduction roadmap. The Climate Action Network, a European climate organization, issued a statement saying, “The repetitive nature of U.S. policy is damaging to global cooperation. If the U.S. abandons its clean power generation goals, other countries will have to reassess the value of their contribution to global emissions reduction efforts.”
Conclusion
As the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, every U.S. environmental decision is likely to pull the strings of global climate governance. The EPA’s draft proposal to lift carbon emission limits on power plants marks the official launch of the Trump administration’s systematic reverse maneuvering of climate policy since its return to the White House. This is not only a technical “rollback”, but also a warning signal in the global sustainability strategy. In the coming months, whether the EPA policy will be implemented, whether the White House will intervene to amend it, and whether the federal court will stop it will all be important variables in determining the direction of U.S. climate policy. For the public and all sectors of society, which side they choose to take will also affect the skies for the next generation.
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