Here’s What the Science Really Says About the Health and Climate Risks of Carbon Pollution

The Trump Administration on Monday repealed carbon pollution rules for coal- and gas-powered plants. And at the heart of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) explanation for its move is the long-debunked idea that, as the agency claims, “emissions from power plants have no material impact on global climate change” and that “the targeted emissions are global in nature, and any potential public health harms are too uncertain, conjectural, remote, and convoluted to tie specifically to the U.S. power sector.” The decision goes against decades of science proving that cutting pollution has myriad benefits for human and environmental health.EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the move at the G20 Energy Abundance Ministerial in Houston, Texas, on Sept. 14. The EPA will now hold a public hearing for the proposal over a 15 day period, and have a 45-day public comment period.The U.S. power sector is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the most recent data, in 2024, the U.S. power sector emitted 1,427 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the second largest U.S. source by sector. A report published by the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York Unive...