U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced today the cancellation of two rules regulating carbon dioxide and toxic air pollution from power plants. 

To rationalize these cancellations, Administrator Zeldin falsely claimed that power plants don’t significantly contribute to pollution. The electricity sector is the second-leading contributor of carbon emissions in the United States and accounts for approximately 25% of all domestic greenhouse gasses. 

The rollback also undoes provisions calling on utilities and states to build out workforce transition plans and be full partners in ensuring a fair transition for energy workers and communities.  

Following the announcement from Administrator Zeldin, the BlueGreen Alliance released a statement from Executive Director Jason Walsh: 

“This is what happens when a President fills his cabinet with sycophants. Trump claims to care about the workers and communities bearing the brunt of the energy transition, but this is just another way he’s stabbing them in the back. Denial won’t help coal communities. Economic investment, safety regulations, and protections for clean air—all things Trump has attacked—will help coal communities. Americans deserve to breath clean air and not be poisoned by their own government. The EPA administrator is repealing common sense protections that make our communities more livable and protect workers.”