The U.S. doesn’t have much in the way of greenhouse gas regulations. Congress has not passed any laws restricting emissions. The EPA has failed to promulgate any rules restricting emissions on an economy-wide level. The Supreme Court also made such a rule impossible in its West Virginia v. EPA ruling. The little we do have are emissions standards on major stationary sources of carbon dioxide pollution under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Primarily, this rule applied to power plants. Now the EPA is proposing to completely repeal CAA emissions regulations for power plants. The EPA’s webpage states:
“On September 14, 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin signed the final Partial Repeal of the Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units. EPA supplemented this action with the proposed Rescission of the Greenhouse Gas Findings for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants and Repeal of Regulations for Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under Clean Air Act Section 111.”
Initially, the EPA’s rescission efforts applied only to Biden-era rules strengthening CAA regulation. While not ideal, these repeals were fully expected. However, when issuing the repeal, the EPA also included a proposal to repeal CAA emissions regulations for power plants. The EPA’s decision to rescind the 2009 GHG endangerment finding underpins this effort. That decision is still working its way through the courts. The CAA proposal is likely to face similar legal action.
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