Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) power plant regulations finalized in 2024 provide most of their carbon-reducing benefits through the accelerated retirement of coal plants, a new analysis finds. The regulations could reduce emissions from the power sector by 51% in 2040 compared with 2022 levels, almost double the 26% reduction that would occur without the rules, the research finds.
▲ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations finalized in 2024 require the retirement of coal power plants by 2038 or the installation of systems capable of capturing 90% of carbon dioxide emissions. Such regulations could reduce emissions from the power sector by 51% in 2040 compared to 2022 levels.
The rules could be strengthened further by tightening emissions for older natural gas plants, according to the new research. But the Trump administration has signaled that it will move to roll back the new regulations, raising questions about whether any of the climate benefits will be realized.
“This work can provide some quantitative analysis on how much we will lose if we lose this rule,” says Qian Luo, a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton Univ. who coauthored the study along with Princeton assistant...
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