EPA Limits on Climate Pollution from Power Plants Are “Vital Safeguards,” Have “Firm Legal Grounding”

“The U.S. fleet of power plants that burn coal and gas is responsible for about one-quarter of total national climate pollution. That’s a massive amount of pollution that puts us all at risk from more intense heatwaves and wildfires, more severe storms and flooding, and other life-threatening dangers caused by climate change. EPA’s standards will reduce that pollution through compliance options for power plants that are reliable and affordable, and that already have public support from many leaders in the industry.                                                                                                               

“EPA’s standards have a firm legal grounding in the Clean Air Act and in Congress’s specific instructions when it passed the Inflation Reduction Act. Their legal durability is reflected in the fact that their opponents have already lost twice in court – once when asking the Supreme Court for an emergency stay and once when asking for a stay from the D.C. Circuit, the same court that will hear robust arguments in support of the standards today. EPA’s power plant standards are vital and affordable safeguards protecting people from climate-destabilizing pollution.”

            - Vickie Patton, General Counsel, Environmental Defense Fund