Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Americans are sleeping more than ever. See how you compare.

Parenting in Gaza today is so much more than keeping your children alive

In photos: Flash floods kill over 100 people in Kenya

Trump and allies say Biden pays rent for ‘illegals’ in Michigan. Not true.

Eighty percent of Ukraine-Israel bill will be spent in U.S. or by U.S. military

Facts in the Trump courtroom v. ‘facts’ in the court of public opinion

Nationals sweep away the Marlins to get back to .500

Jayden Daniels is latest in Washington’s checkered history of first-round QBs

The Rangers swept the Capitals, and it’s time for the new core to take charge

A murder plot that cannot be ignored: India must come clean at last

How to confront antisemitism, deal with protests — and respect free speech

Is student loan debt an emergency? Take our quiz.

Attorney general moves to reclassify marijuana as lower-risk drug

Poll shows how RFK Jr.’s appeal to anti-vaccine right could hurt Trump

Views of the campus protests are too broad — and too narrow

Southwest passengers now get a $75 voucher for big flight disruptions

The Rick Steves guide to life

The sad, stale state of in-flight vegetarian meals

The FBI director’s concerns over terrorism are at ‘a whole other level’ 

U.S. campus protests spread to the Middle East and Europe  

Biden is letting Assad off the hook, with dangerous consequences

I learned to heal my sadness by cradling dying chickens 

Brave Little Hunter is free: Baby orca escapes lagoon for open seas

Soldiers reunite with their pets from overseas: ‘It meant everything to me’

Apple banned this app for years. It’s now America’s No. 1 iPhone app. 

8 major newspapers join legal backlash against OpenAI, Microsoft

Fired Google workers who protested Israel deal file complaint with labor board

Miss Manners: Some audience members ask rambling questions post-lecture

Carolyn Hax: Her family left all the kitchen work to her, so she went on strike

Ask Amy: Why did my friend lie about seeing my ex-girlfriend?

 Donald Trump Speaks During A Campaign Rally In Green Bay Wisconsin

Reporting on Earth’s changing climate and the search for solutions

See more coverage in your recommendations

Climate & environment

The Climate Coach newsletter

Climate alerts

Wayne Parry

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering significantly strengthening proposed limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants — a crucial part of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3" target=_blank>President Biden</a>’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/climate-environment/biden-climate-environment-actions/" target=_blank>climate agenda</a> — according to three people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no final decisions have been made.

The discussions about toughening the standards, which are set to be released this month, have major implications for America’s fleet of power plants, which rank as the country’s second-largest contributor to climate change. They come as the administration weighs the political calculus of weakening or strengthening environmental regulations before the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/election-2024/" target=_blank>2024 election</a>.

In some cases, the Biden administration has finalized rules that are less stringent than the original proposals. With power plants, it appears to be heading in the opposite direction.

In May 2023, the EPA <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/05/11/epa-power-plant-climate-rules/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9" target=_blank>issued a proposed rule</a> that called for drastically curbing greenhouse gas emissions from three categories of power plants: existing coal plants, existing gas plants and new gas plants. But in February, the agency said the final rule <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/02/29/epa-gas-power-plant-rule/" target=_blank>would no longer cover existing gas plants</a>, disappointing some environmental advocates.

Now, EPA officials are considering strengthening the requirements for new gas plants, according to the people familiar with the matter. Specifically, officials are in talks about having the final rule apply to new large gas plants that operate more than 40 percent of the time, rather than those that operate 50 percent of the time as the proposal had envisioned.

The change could affect the majority of new gas plants built in the United States, and it could have a significant climate impact. According to the EPA’s modeling, it could prevent up to 10.6 million tons of carbon emissions per year — equivalent to taking 2.5 million cars off the nation’s roads for a year.

EPA spokesman Tim Carroll declined to comment for this story, citing ongoing deliberations. “The draft final rule is currently with the Office of Management and Budget under interagency review,” he said in an email.

Many utility companies are <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1f93b9b2-b264-44e2-87cc-83c04d8f1e2b" target=_blank>planning for a surge in gas plant construction</a><b> </b>to meet <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/03/07/ai-data-centers-power/?itid=lk_inline_manual_13" target=_blank>explosive power demand</a> fueled by electricity-hungry data centers, and the EPA rule could affect these plans. In contrast, many coal plants are shutting down regardless of federal regulations, as they struggle to compete economically with cheaper gas and renewable energy.

The owner of the last two coal plants in New England <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/climate/new-england-coal-plants.html" target=_blank>announced last month</a> that the facilities will close by 2025 and 2028 as part of a settlement with environmental groups. The Merrimack and Schiller stations, both in New Hampshire, will be converted to solar farms and battery systems that can store electricity generated by wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Coal plants are barely hanging on economically without this rule,” said Matthew Davis, vice president of federal policy at the League of Conservation Voters. “In most places across the country, new renewable sources of power are cheaper than continuing to run a coal plant.”

The League of Conservation Voters and other environmental groups had urged the EPA to toughen the power plant standards. In contrast, the Edison Electric Institute, the top lobbying group for U.S. utilities, had argued in <a href="https://www.eei.org/-/media/497F22CE3B0D45619E5ABA593778C641.pdf" target=_blank>public comments</a> that overly ambitious rules could delay the construction of gas plants and undermine the reliability of the electric grid.

The Biden administration has recently weakened other climate rules in the face of mounting political pressure and threatened legal challenges. Last month, the EPA finalized <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/03/20/biden-car-emissions-rules/" target=_blank>emissions limits for passenger cars</a> that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/02/18/epa-electric-vehicles-car-rules/" target=_blank>gave automakers more time</a> to ramp up sales of electric vehicles — an election-year concession to labor unions that had raised concerns about a rapid shift to EVs.

Also last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/03/06/sec-climate-disclosure-rule/" target=_blank>finalized a scaled-back rule</a> requiring corporations to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and contributions to climate change. Unlike the proposal, the final rule does not mandate the disclosure of emissions generated by customers and suppliers, which can account for the vast majority of oil companies’ carbon footprints.

Republican attorneys general and business groups nonetheless challenged the SEC rule in federal court, arguing that the commission lacks the authority to force companies to weigh in on “controversial” climate issues. The SEC on Thursday <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4575352-sec-pauses-climate-disclosure-rule-pending-court-challenge/" target="_blank">paused the rule’s implementation</a> pending the outcome of the legal battles.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the EPA rule would reduce carbon emissions by 10.6 million metric tons per year. The correct figure is 10.6 million tons. This story has been corrected. 

Dateline Award from the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, 2021

Brown University, BA in English

Maxine Joselow is a staff writer who covers climate change and the environment.

Maxine Joselow

EPA weighs strengthening climate rule for power plants

the-washington-post

Right To Clean Environment

Environment

Weather

Climate Solutions

Climate Lab

Green Living

Business of Climate

Climate

washpost

prism://prism.query/site,/climate-environment/climate-policy&limit=20

Climate Politics & Policy

News and analysis of the movements shaping our climate and environment policy, with an eye toward the business of climate policy, legislation and change.

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/climate-environment&limit=20

Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter and get advice for life on our changing planet, in your inbox every Tuesday.

EPA mulls tougher limits on new gas plants as 2024 election nears

The reconsideration comes after the Biden administration has backpedaled on other proposed climate regulations