Energy coalition encourages EPA not to repeal GHG standards for power plants

The House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) is urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to repeal greenhouse gas emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida and SEEC Co-Chair Paul Tonko of New York led a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin about the significant threat that repeal of the standards poses to Americans and their pocketbooks. They were joined by SEEC Co-Chairs Reps. Doris Matsui of California and Mike Quigley of Illinois along with 81 of their House Democratic colleagues.

“The EPA is proposing to make a finding that GHG emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution. The EPA has offered no new analysis to support this claim. In fact, according to EPA’s own reporting from August 2024, power plants are responsible for almost a quarter of U.S. GHG emissions, or about 3 percent of all global climate pollution. The power sector is the second-largest source of U.S. climate pollution,” the members wrote in their letter.

According to the SEEC, Congress has repeatedly affirmed the EPA’s authority and obligation under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act to protect Americans from air pollution that endangers public health or welfare.

“Congress reaffirmed this authority in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by explicitly providing funding and direction for EPA to regulate power plants’ carbon pollution using existing authorities, which include those in Section 135. Congress was clear: EPA can and must use its Clean Air Act authority to establish carbon pollution standards for power plants, protecting Americans from pollution sources that cause air pollution that endangers public health or welfare,” the members wrote.

The SEEC strongly opposes the proposed repeal and urges the EPA to adhere to its Congressionally-mandated responsibility to issue robust standards that limit pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants, cut pollution and protect public health.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the EPA finalized impactful greenhouse gas emissions standards for new gas and existing coal power plants that would curb 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047 and provide hundreds of billions of dollars in health and climate benefits. On June 11, 2025, the Trump Administration’s EPA proposed to repeal all GHG emission standards for the power sector.

The SEEC is a coalition of 101 members of the U.S. House of Representatives that was founded in January 2009 to be a focused, active, and effective coalition for advancing policies that address climate change, promote clean energy innovation and domestic manufacturing, develop renewable energy resources, create family-sustaining clean jobs, protect our nation’s air, water, and natural environment and promote environmental justice.