Proposed EPA rule could eliminate restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants

The Trump Administration is proposing new Environmental Protection Agency rules that would "no longer limit the planet-warming pollution that power plants pump into the air while burning coal and gas," Maxine Joselow and Lisa Friedman report for The New York Times. 

If implemented, the rule would also prevent future administrations from regulating emissions from power plants.

Industrial power plants are the second largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States, which raises temperatures and exponentially increases the risk of climate disasters. Joselow and Friedman report that scientists have said that "industrialized nations must sharply cut emissions to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change."

Many experts have opposed the move, noting that "if the U.S. power sector were its own country, it would be the fifth-largest climate polluter in the world after China, the entire United States, India and Russia."

Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told reporters that the proposed change would be "another nail in the coffin for this administration’s commitment to protecting people and tackling the climate crisis." He said the EPA "is ending its legal and moral responsibility to end climate pollution."