Latest news with #environmentalRegulations
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
EPA set to roll back rules that limit greenhouse gases and mercury from US power plants
The Environmental Protection Agency is poised to eliminate rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, part of a wide-ranging rollback of environmental regulations that Administrator Lee Zeldin has said would remove trillions of dollars in costs and 'unleash' American energy. The EPA also plans to weaken a regulation that requires power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants that can harm brain development of young children and contribute to heart attacks and other health problems in adults. The planned rollbacks, set to be announced Wednesday, are meant to fulfill President Donald Trump 's repeated pledge to "unleash American energy" and make it more affordable for Americans to power their homes and operate businesses. If approved and made final, the plans would reverse efforts by President Joe Biden 's administration to address climate change and improve conditions in areas heavily burdened by industrial pollution, mostly in low-income and majority Black or Hispanic communities. The power plant rules are among about 30 environmental regulations that Zeldin targeted in March when he announced what he called the 'most consequential day of deregulation in American history.' He said the actions would put a 'dagger through the heart of climate-change religion' and introduce a 'Golden Age' for the American economy. Environmental groups vowed to challenge the rules in court. ' Power plants are among the largest sources of dangerous pollution in the nation. We have modern technologies that allow these plants to reduce pollution with available and cost-effective solutions,' said Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund. The clean-air standards targeted by the EPA under Trump, a Republican, "are protecting people across America today and will safeguard future generations,'' Patton said. 'Ignoring the immense harm to public health from power plant pollution is a clear violation of the law,'' added Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council. 'Our lawyers will be watching closely, and if EPA finalizes a slapdash effort to repeal those rules, we'll see them in court.' The EPA-targeted rules could prevent an estimated 30,000 deaths and save $275 billion each year they are in effect, according to an Associated Press examination that included the agency's own prior assessments and a wide range of other research. It's by no means guaranteed that the rules will be entirely eliminated — they can't be changed without going through a federal rulemaking process that can take years and requires public comment and scientific justification. Even a partial dismantling of the rules would mean more pollutants such as smog, mercury and lead — and especially more tiny airborne particles that can lodge in lungs and cause health problems, the AP analysis found. It would also mean higher emissions of the greenhouse gases driving Earth's warming to deadlier levels. Biden, a Democrat, had made fighting climate change a hallmark of his presidency. Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a strict EPA rule issued last year. Then-EPA head Michael Regan said the power plant rules — the Biden administration's most ambitious effort to roll back planet-warming pollution from the power sector — would reduce pollution and improve public health while supporting a reliable, long-term supply of electricity. The power sector is the nation's second-largest contributor to climate change, after transportation. In its proposed regulation, the Trump EPA argues that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-fired power plants 'do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution' or to climate change and therefore do not meet a threshold under the Clean Air Act for regulatory action. A paper published earlier this year in the journal Science found the Biden-era rules could reduce U.S. power sector carbon emissions by 73% to 86% below 2005 levels by 2040, compared with a reduction of 60% to 83% without the rules. 'Our research shows that EPA's power plant rules make substantial strides to protect human health and the environment,'' said Aaron Bergman, a fellow at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit research institution and a co-author of the Science paper. 'Carbon emissions in the power sector drop at a faster rate with the (Biden-era) rules in place than without them,'' Bergman said in an email. 'And we also would have seen significant reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, pollutants that harm human health."
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
EPA set to roll back rules that limit greenhouse gases and mercury from US power plants
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is poised to eliminate rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, part of a wide-ranging rollback of environmental regulations that Administrator Lee Zeldin has said would remove trillions of dollars in costs and 'unleash' American energy. The EPA also plans to weaken a regulation that requires power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants that can harm brain development of young children and contribute to heart attacks and other health problems in adults. The planned rollbacks, set to be announced Wednesday, are meant to fulfill President Donald Trump's repeated pledge to 'unleash American energy' and make it more affordable for Americans to power their homes and operate businesses. If approved and made final, the plans would reverse efforts by President Joe Biden's administration to address climate change and improve conditions in areas heavily burdened by industrial pollution, mostly in low-income and majority Black or Hispanic communities. The power plant rules are among about 30 environmental regulations that Zeldin targeted in March when he announced what he called the 'most consequential day of deregulation in American history.' He said the actions would put a 'dagger through the heart of climate-change religion' and introduce a 'Golden Age' for the American economy. Environmental groups vowed to challenge the rules in court. 'Power plants are among the largest sources of dangerous pollution in the nation. We have modern technologies that allow these plants to reduce pollution with available and cost-effective solutions,' said Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund. The clean-air standards targeted by the EPA under Trump, a Republican, 'are protecting people across America today and will safeguard future generations,'' Patton said. 'Ignoring the immense harm to public health from power plant pollution is a clear violation of the law,'' added Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council. 'Our lawyers will be watching closely, and if EPA finalizes a slapdash effort to repeal those rules, we'll see them in court.' The EPA-targeted rules could prevent an estimated 30,000 deaths and save $275 billion each year they are in effect, according to an Associated Press examination that included the agency's own prior assessments and a wide range of other research. It's by no means guaranteed that the rules will be entirely eliminated — they can't be changed without going through a federal rulemaking process that can take years and requires public comment and scientific justification. Even a partial dismantling of the rules would mean more pollutants such as smog, mercury and lead — and especially more tiny airborne particles that can lodge in lungs and cause health problems, the AP analysis found. It would also mean higher emissions of the greenhouse gases driving Earth's warming to deadlier levels. Biden, a Democrat, had made fighting climate change a hallmark of his presidency. Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a strict EPA rule issued last year. Then-EPA head Michael Regan said the power plant rules — the Biden administration's most ambitious effort to roll back planet-warming pollution from the power sector — would reduce pollution and improve public health while supporting a reliable, long-term supply of electricity. The power sector is the nation's second-largest contributor to climate change, after transportation. In its proposed regulation, the Trump EPA argues that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-fired power plants 'do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution' or to climate change and therefore do not meet a threshold under the Clean Air Act for regulatory action. A paper published earlier this year in the journal Science found the Biden-era rules could reduce U.S. power sector carbon emissions by 73% to 86% below 2005 levels by 2040, compared with a reduction of 60% to 83% without the rules. 'Our research shows that EPA's power plant rules make substantial strides to protect human health and the environment,'' said Aaron Bergman, a fellow at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit research institution and a co-author of the Science paper. 'Carbon emissions in the power sector drop at a faster rate with the (Biden-era) rules in place than without them,'' Bergman said in an email. 'And we also would have seen significant reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, pollutants that harm human health.'
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Water companies face wave of criminal investigations
Criminal investigations into water companies are at a record high amid a crackdown on illegal sewage dumping. A total of 81 investigations have been opened, after spot checks at company premises and rivers jumped 400 per cent in the past year. Breaches of environmental permits, such as releasing excessive pollution into rivers or failing to carry out water quality monitoring, are criminal offences. Thames Water faces the highest number of criminal investigations, 31, while Anglian Water has 22, according to government figures. Under new laws, water company executives could face as long as two years in prison for obstructing an investigation. If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to five years and their firms fined hundreds of millions of pounds. Sir Adrian Montague, the chairman of Thames Water, appeared in front of MPs earlier this month to defend handing out six-figure bonuses. He argued that the firm needed to 'reward its staff effectively' to ensure they would not be poached by rival businesses. But Downing Street today appeared to hit back at his remarks, as the Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'Water bosses rewarding themselves for failure is clearly not acceptable.' 'The new Ofwat powers that are set out in the Water Act and will be coming into effect shortly will be applied retrospectively, meaning that they apply to Thames Water, just as they will any other company.' Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, said that water bosses who were breaking the law would 'finally be punished'. He added: 'Water companies have too often gone unpunished as they pump record levels of sewage into our waterways. No more. 'A record number of criminal investigations have been launched into law-breaking water companies – which could see bosses behind bars. 'With this Government, water companies who break the law will finally be punished for their disgraceful behaviour so we can clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.' Mr Reed also confirmed that Thames Water had 'withdrawn' plans to pay senior bosses large bonuses, something the water company had said was necessary to secure a £3 billion emergency loan. Thames Water's chairman earlier admitted incorrectly stating that the so-called retention plan was 'insisted upon' by the company's lenders. Philip Duffy, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said: 'Our message to the industry is clear: we expect full compliance throughout the water system, and we will not hesitate to take robust enforcement action where we identify serious breaches.' Government figures show the regulator carried out an average of nine investigations a month between July 2024 and March this year. That compared with 187 criminal investigations launched in the period from April 2020 to June 2024, an average of 3.6 per month. But critics said that the attempts at a crackdown had not gone far enough. 'National scandal' Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman, said: 'Eighty-one investigations does not even begin to address the sewage scandal that has plagued British rivers and seas for far too long. 'This is a national scandal which got far worse under the Conservatives' watch. Their record is one of rising sewage levels and water firms stuffing their pockets with cash. 'And now, the Government's attempt to tackle the crisis is a job half done. A toothless regulator will fail to end the scandal of multi-million pound bonuses for sewage dumpers.'
E&E News
09-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
EU warns Britain's war on newts could violate Brexit deal
LONDON — Britain has it in for its bats and newts — and Brussels is alarmed. A confidential EU report, seen by POLITICO, warned that U.K. plans to strip away nature protections in pursuit of economic growth could put the British government in breach of the Brexit trade deal. The measures, part of the U.K's new planning bill, are meant to make it easier for developers to build new homes, roads, railways or pylons — but could fall afoul of 'non-regression' clauses signed by Boris Johnson when the then-prime minister took Britain out of the bloc, the report said. Advertisement 'The revision of environmental planning rules to facilitate building new developments is potentially in breach of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement,' the report said.
