Trump's EPA Unleashes American Power by Rescinding Carbon 'Pollution' Standards
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says it will immediately remove over $300 billion in costs to the energy sector, aiding affordability across the economy.
"Under my plan, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." So said Barack Obama when campaigning for president in 2008. He and many other prominent Democrats have made similar promises over the past two decades.
Talk about promises made, promises kept.
On September 14, 2026, the Trump administration announced the repeal of the majority of the Biden administration's greenhouse gas (GHG) requirements for power plants. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said the action would create savings of $310 billion and proposed rescinding every remaining greenhouse gas standard for the power sector. According to the EPA, these actions will lead to savings of an additional $370 million in direct compliance costs, along with untold billions in layered savings throughout the American economy.
This follows the 2025 announcement that the EPA would unwind the "Endangerment Finding," another flawed Obama-era determination that defied science and called carbon dioxide a pollutant that needed regulation.
What It Means
- According to the EPA press release, the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standard forced plants to retire rather than setting standards they could actually meet. "The 2024 rule also failed to account for the U.S. Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. EPA, which barred the agency from misusing the [Clean Air Act] to manipulate Americans' energy choices. The manipulation in the 2024 rule created inefficient uses of natural gas, adversely impacted the nation's energy systems, and drove electricity prices up. The 2024 rule was another example of the Democrats' war on America's natural resources and attempted to achieve the same unlawful fuel-shifting goals of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan."
- Concurrently with today's final rule, EPA proposes to rescind all remaining GHG emissions requirements for power plants, which have imposed unnecessary requirements that drain the power sector's resources, while producing virtually no benefit.
- "The Trump administration is saving Americans hundreds of millions of dollars through common sense energy solutions that put an end to the Biden administration's disastrous Green New Scam policies enacted at the cost of our nation's energy security and future," said National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) Chairman and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
- Burgum also said this will restore efficiency to the energy sector and allow our vital natural resources to be used for the benefit of the American people.
- "During periods of peak electricity demand, coal and natural gas continue to play a critical role in keeping the lights on," said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. The Obama-Biden assault on coal power led to many of the onerous regulations that Trump 2.0 will now rescind. The new goal will be to restore coal's vital part in providing baseload power, which wind and solar are incapable of achieving.
How This Will Affect You
- The EPA lays it out plainly: "Baseload power is essential to the great American story, powering generations of manufacturing, good-paying jobs, and communities. Together, the coal and natural gas industries support hundreds of thousands of jobs and add tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year."
- Cheap, reliable power is not optional in our modern economy—it is mandatory, and demand continues to rise every year. Unshackling production in the energy sector unshackles the entire economy.
- The cost of energy has a layering effect throughout the economy. From data, research, and development to manufacturing, transportation, and logistics, every step of the supply chain needs power. And that power comes at a cost. When lowering those costs at each step, those savings add up—all across the economy.
- Home heating and electricity rates will also come down when America can once again produce reliable, affordable power without onerous regulations.
Bottom Line
Marc Morano of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) notes that the EPA will try to make the rule changes permanent: "[The Trump administration] is not only repealing the Endangerment Finding, but also trying to make it so future presidents can't reinstate it. This will prevent unelected bureaucrats hidden deep within the EPA from regulating the economy based on man-made climate fears."
By arguing that the rule is out of scope for regulation, Zeldin and the EPA contend that future administrations lack the power to reinstate such expansive and destructive restrictions on power generation. And that's good news for American consumers at all levels.
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