Many of the electric power industry CEOs who recently met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt urged him to “repeal and replace” the Obama administration’s signature global warming rule.
Industry sources told E&E News many urged Pruitt to repeal the Clean Power Plan and “write a less stringent carbon regulation that sets efficiency standards for coal plants” to “give the industry certainty to make planning decisions.”
The Clean Power Plan (CPP) was the main policy through which the Obama administration would meet its obligations under the Paris climate accord. Trump ordered EPA to review the rule earlier this year, and it’s widely expected the agency will repeal the rule.
EPA has a statutory duty to regulate greenhouse gases, and environmentalists can sue to compel the Trump administration to issue regulations. Though experts say there’s wiggle room for EPA to avoid issuing climate regulations on power plants.
Replacing the CPP with something weaker could also make it harder for a future administration to impose more onerous climate regulations.
Utility executives want EPA to issue another, less stringent, rule in its place. Executives said replacing the CPP “would help them plan for the future and send a signal to state regulators and policymakers that utilities are not going to build new coal plants,” E&E News reported.
Utilities have already begun shuttering coal plants because of EPA rules already in place, namely the agency’s rule on mercury emissions. The CPP’s proposal sent a signal to industry that coal had fallen out of favor with D.C. regulators.
The CPP aimed to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The Obama administration said the CPP was necessary to show “leadership” on fighting global warming, even though the rule itself was projected to have virtually no impact on future warming.
Pruitt didn’t seem too receptive, industry sources said.
“What I got back from it was the only time the administrator really perked up was when he heard the word ‘coal,'” a source told E&E News. “None of our people are ever going to be building a coal plant again. It’s devoid of reality.”
On the other hand, Pruitt could undercut a future climate regulation by reviewing the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding.
Conservative groups have already petitioned Pruitt to reconsider the endangerment finding, which gave EPA the legal authority to regulate greenhouse gases. It’s unclear if Pruitt will act on these petitions.
There are legal pitfalls with this plan as well, and several experts say Pruitt should replace the CPP with a less onerous regulation based on efficiency improvements at individual power plants to lower carbon dioxide emissions.
“It will be based on efficiency improvements that can be made to reduce the CO2 emission rates at individual power plants, and states will be given flexibility in deciding on the CO2 emission rate standards that will apply to each of the existing plants within their borders,” former EPA official Jeff Holmstead told The Daily Caller News Foundation in February.
Holmstead is reportedly under consideration for EPA’s number two role, but some conservative activists oppose his nomination.
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