Trump vows to repeal new EPA power plant rule
Former President Trump on Monday vowed to roll back a Biden-Harris administration regulation that curbs carbon emissions from coal and natural gas power plants if he wins the presidential election.
Trump made the remarks at an event in Pennsylvania and said he would reverse the rule that was put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April as it would have a negative impact on the U.S. energy sector.
"I am announcing today that when I return to the White House, I will end this anti-American energy crusade and terminate Kamala's so-called Power Plant Rule," he said. "Kamala stands for energy disappearance and factory obliteration. I stand for manufacturing dominance. Kamala is on a regulatory jihad to shut down power plants all across America."
"It's a disaster for our country," Trump said. "Instead of shutting down power plants, we will open dozens and dozens more, and they'll happen fast."
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The EPA's rule would require existing coal-fired that are expected to operate over the long-term and new natural gas-fired power plants capture 90% of the carbon emissions by 2032.
The agency says that its projection of the regulatory impact found a reduction of 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047, as well as $370 billion in "climate and public health net benefits over the next two decades."
A group of Republican-led states had their request for an emergency stay to pause the rule from moving forward while legal proceedings moved ahead rejected by a federal appeals court. The court ruled that a pause was unnecessary because the rule's earliest compliance deadline is 2030.
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Those states appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court and are arguing the EPA overstepped its authority in advancing the rule, which they believe requires congressional approval. Trade groups representing electric utilities as well as the mining and coal industries have also filed lawsuits against the rule.
Phil Flynn, a FOX Business Network contributor and senior account executive at the Price Futures Group, said in an interview that the EPA's rule would strain the U.S. energy system if it's ultimately implemented.
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"Even though the environmentalists will say, 'This is great for the environment. It's a great thing.' It's not going to be a great thing for the economy because you're going to see power plants shut down," he explained. You're going to see the power grid become less stable than it already is, it's going to lead to power shortages."
"The other problem I had is they don't really differentiate between natural gas plants or coal because natural gas is so much cleaner than coal. It's almost like they're lumping in the apples and the oranges not realizing that the record production of natural gas has reduced the consumption of coal and it's allowed us to keep the lights on," Flynn added.
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Reuters contributed to this report.