On Thursday, the EPA will release a draft rule that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fired power plants.
The proposed rule aims to restrict carbon dioxide emissions from both existing coal plants, certain large existing gas plants, and new natural gas-powered plants. As per the rule, coal plants would be required to capture 90% of their emissions that contribute to global warming.
How Do the EPA’s New Regulations Work?
The proposed rules from the Biden EPA concentrate on equipping current power plants with technology to capture emissions prior to their release into the atmosphere and allow utilities to select their preferred compliance method.
The EPA believes that much of this can be accomplished through carbon capture and sequestration, which involves capturing carbon emissions at their source and either storing or reusing them.
The proposed regulations dictate that carbon capture technology would be required for baseload power plants that generate substantial amounts of electricity and are anticipated to continue operating beyond 2040.
The new rules differentiate between power plants that generate less electricity or are expected to shut down earlier. For such plants, the regulations offer alternatives.
For example, some categories of power plants could begin incorporating clean hydrogen, with a 30% clean hydrogen mix by the early 2030s, gradually increasing to over 90% clean hydrogen by the end of the decade.
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Supreme Court Challenge
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has already expressed opposition to the new EPA rules and vowed to oppose any future EPA nominee in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia criticized the rules as an attempt to kill American energy jobs and promised to introduce a Congressional Review Act bill to overturn it.
Despite surviving a Supreme Court challenge last year, the EPA’s regulatory power may face new attempts to limit it, as West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has suggested.