WASHINGTON – President Biden’s administration is poised to announce limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that would force them to remove pollution from their smokestacks, a technology currently used by fewer than 20 of the 3,400 coal and gas plants. -fired plants in the country, according to three people briefed on the rule.
If enacted, the proposed regulation would be the first time the federal government would curb carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, which generate about 25 percent of the planet-warming pollution produced in the United States. This also applies to future crops.
Almost all coal and gas-fired power plants must cut or eliminate almost all of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2040, according to people familiar with the regulation, who asked not to be identified because the rule has not been made public.
The proposed rule is sure to face opposition from the fossil fuel industry, power plant operators and their allies in Congress. This is likely to draw an immediate legal challenge from a group of Republican attorneys general who have already sued the Biden administration to stop other climate policies. The incoming administration may also loosen regulation.
The regulation, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, is being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, and is subject to change.
Maria Michalos, an EPA spokeswoman, said the agency is “acting urgently to advance standards that protect people and the planet, building on the momentum from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, including those proposal to address carbon emissions from new and existing power plants.”
It does not mandate the use of carbon capture equipment, a new and expensive technology; rather, it would set limits on the amount of pollution that plant operators would have to deal with. They can do that by using a different technology or, in the case of gas plants, switching to a fuel source like green hydrogen, which doesn’t emit carbon, according to people familiar with the matter. thing. But the regulation could lead to wider adoption of carbon capture technology, the people said.
Most of the electricity generated in the United States last year – about 60 percent – came from burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and petroleum, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The proposal comes on the heels of two other Biden administration plans to cut tailpipe emissions by accelerating the nation’s transition to electric vehicles, and curbing methane leaks from oil wells. and gas.
If the three regulations are implemented as proposed, they will significantly reduce the global warming pollution produced by the world’s largest economy. Together with the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, a law that pours $370 billion into clean energy programs, they will put the country on track to meet Mr. Biden’s commitment to cut the nation’s emissions nearly in half by 2030, and stop the addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2050.
That’s the action needed by all major industrialized nations, scientists say, to keep average global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), compared to preindustrial levels. Beyond that point, the effects of catastrophic heat waves, floods, droughts, crop failures and species extinctions will become increasingly difficult for humanity to manage. The planet is already warming by an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius.
Mr. Biden has said he is willing to use his executive authority to act on global warming, a point he recently emphasized after facing sharp criticism from environmentalists, particularly young activists in climate, because of his decision last month to approve a huge oil drilling project. in the pristine land of Alaska, known as Willow.
“We need to do more than recognize the climate challenges we face,” Mr. Biden told other world leaders in a virtual gathering Thursday to discuss climate and energy. “We are determined to strengthen our ambition and our actions. And, yes, we are ready to do the hard work to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
In releasing a climate rule for power plants, Mr. Biden hopes to succeed where his former boss, President Barack Obama, failed. Nearly a decade ago, Mr. Obama tried to enact sweeping limits on power plant pollution that were first blocked by the Supreme Court and then overturned by President Donald J. Trump. Last summer, the Supreme Court confirmed that the EPA has the authority to regulate carbon emissions from power plants but in a limited way.
But three factors have fueled the Biden administration. First, carbon capture technology has improved since the Obama administration. Second, when Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act last year, they added language that classifies greenhouse gases as pollutants to be regulated by the EPA Finally, the new law provides tax credits to power plants operators who capture their carbon, making the technology more financially feasible. .
Instead of creating a limit that all power plants must adhere to, the EPA intends to be flexible, people familiar with the new plan said. It plans to set different targets based on the size of the plant, whether it is regular or intermittent, and whether it is scheduled for retirement. Some coal plants slated to close in the next decade may not be required to meet the new standards.
Patrick Morrisey, the Republican attorney general of West Virginia, a major coal-producing state, said on Friday that he and others were waiting to see Mr. Biden’s plan. “We are excited to review the EPA’s new proposed rule on power plants, and we are once again ready to lead the charge in the fight against federal overreach,” he said in a statement.
Some environmental groups are also critical of carbon capture technology, arguing that it makes more sense to switch to wind, solar and other clean energy sources that don’t pollute in the first place.
Like the proposed regulations governing tailpipe and methane emissions from oil and gas facilities, the power plant rules may be subject to a public comment period and are unlikely to be finalized and implemented until later. year.
The Biden administration is racing to implement a trio of proposed regulations before Republicans have a chance to cancel them if they win control of Congress in 2024. Under the Congressional Review Act, a new Congress to be elected in next November can reach and reverse the agency’s regulations that were finalized within 60 days of the previous Congress.
The crackdown on emissions from cars, oil and gas facilities and power plants comes as Mr. Biden prepares to announce his bid for re-election, if he needs young voters to helped him win the White House in 2020.
In a virtual meeting Thursday with leaders of other major economies, Mr. Biden said he would seek $500 million from Congress to fight deforestation in the Amazon. On Friday, he signed an executive order creating the White House Office of Environmental Justice and requiring every federal agency to develop plans to address the disproportionate impact of pollution and climate change on minorities and tribal community.
“Ever since I became president, I have literally flown over thousands of hectares of land that have burned because of environmental changes,” he told environmental activists at a ceremony in the Rose Garden, where he signed he is in charge. “I have seen so many communities being destroyed by storms that are more frequent and fierce. It is an existential threat to our country and literally the world.
However, electric utilities complain that any policy forcing them to install carbon capture technology would be too expensive, raising energy costs for consumers.
A 2021 report by a group of 600 global investors, including BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors and other leading shareholders of US investor-owned utilities, says that the high the cost of carbon capture “makes this a risky and potentially expensive decarbonization strategy.”
But some experts say the conditions surrounding carbon capture technology are changing.
Once considered by many to be a boondoggle, the technology has matured. The Biden administration has invested billions in research and demonstration projects to further develop it. And while there are only about 40 power plants with the equipment worldwide, that number is growing, albeit slowly. Calpine Corporation, one of the nation’s largest generators of electricity from natural gas, is building a large carbon capture and sequestration facility for its power generators in Deer Park, Texas.
The Inflation Reduction Act offers incentives to facilitate adoption. The law increases the current federal tax credits for electric utilities that capture their carbon dioxide pollution from $85 to $135 per ton of carbon dioxide, from $30 to $50. That can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for large power companies.
“Right now, the power sector doesn’t find it economical to build,” said Carrie Jenks, the executive director of Harvard’s Environmental and Energy Law program. “But the IRA incentives really reduce the cost and make it economical. We see companies that want to build. “