By Emily Arthun, President & CEO, American Coal Council

June 25, 2025 - In a long-overdue return to energy realism, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Administrator Lee Zeldin has proposed repealing two of the most damaging regulatory regimes ever imposed on the coal-fired power sector: the Obama-Biden greenhouse gas rules and the 2024 amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).

These proposed repeals aren’t about rolling back environmental protection—they’re about restoring common sense. They affirm what America’s grid operators, industries, and energy experts have long known but many in Washington have refused to admit: America’s power needs coal—and it needs a regulatory framework grounded in facts, not ideology. 

Emily Arthun

The Problem with Fantasy Regulation

For years, coal-based power plants have been shackled by regulations that defy economic logic, engineering limits, and constitutional bounds. From unrealistic mandates for carbon capture and storage (CCS) to unlawful generation-shifting schemes, the past two administrations tried to legislate coal out of existence—not through laws passed by Congress, but through administrative fiat.

The 2015 Clean Power Plan and its 2024 sequel were prime examples. They imposed rigid, one-size-fits-all emission targets and compliance deadlines that were technologically and economically unachievable. These rules threatened to gut America’s coal fleet, driving up power costs and destabilizing the grid.

Now, Administrator Zeldin is taking the right step by proposing to repeal those rules entirely.

EPA’s new position under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act -- in contrast to the Obama and Biden administrations -- is rooted in reality. The agency now recognizes that greenhouse gases (GHGs), unlike localized pollutants, are global in nature. The U.S. power sector contributes a relatively minor and declining share of total global GHG emissions. Meanwhile, countries like China and India are expanding coal use at record pace.

Shuttering clean, reliable U.S. coal plants will not reduce global emissions—but it will weaken our grid, cost American jobs, and increase dependence on foreign energy technologies.

Under the new proposal, the EPA rightly concludes that GHG emissions from U.S. fossil-fuel power plants do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution, and therefore do not warrant Section 111 regulation.

This is not only scientifically defensible—it’s constitutionally sound. The Supreme Court made clear in West Virginia v. EPA that the agency lacks authority to force a national fuel shift. The law does not give regulators the power to pick energy winners and losers. That responsibility rests with Congress—and the American people.

One of the most damaging elements of the previous rules was the assumption that carbon capture and storage (CCS) was both available and affordable. It is neither.

EPA’s updated analysis affirms what energy experts have long argued: CCS is not adequately demonstrated, not economically viable, and not deployable on a national scale in the timeline required. The infrastructure needed for widespread CCS deployment simply does not exist, and would take decades to build at prohibitive cost.

EPA estimates that its proposed repeal will save the power sector $19 billion over the next two decades—money that can now be invested in upgrading existing infrastructure, maintaining grid reliability, and protecting ratepayers from skyrocketing electricity bills.

EPA also proposes to repeal burdensome 2024 amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), returning to the 2012 version of the rule—one that was already among the strictest in the world.

The Biden-era amendments would have imposed a 66% reduction in filterable particulate matter and a 70% reduction in mercury emissions for lignite-fired units—on top of already stringent limits. These changes weren’t about health—they were about shutting down coal.

By rolling back these amendments, the agency estimates another $1.2 billion in regulatory savings over ten years. More importantly, it sends a message: environmental policy must be achievable, not weaponized.

These policy changes couldn’t come at a more critical time.

Coal still generates nearly 17% of America’s electricity, and provides the vast majority of baseload power in large swaths of the country—from the Midwest to the Mountain West. It is dispatchable, abundant, and domestically sourced. And unlike intermittent renewables, coal doesn’t rely on sunny days, windy nights, or foreign rare earths.

At a time when our national grid is under unprecedented strain, when electricity demand is rising due to data centers and electrification, and when our geopolitical competitors are stockpiling energy dominance, America cannot afford to take coal offline.

This isn’t nostalgia—it’s national security.

The American Coal Council has long argued that coal doesn’t need special treatment. We don’t want subsidies, mandates, or handouts. We simply ask for regulatory fairness—a system that allows coal to compete based on its strengths: reliability, affordability, and availability.

These proposed repeals are a step in that direction. They remove arbitrary roadblocks and restore the constitutional limits of regulatory power. They bring clarity to utilities and developers. And they protect millions of Americans from the consequences of blackouts and unaffordable energy.

A Message to Policymakers

The comment period for these proposed rules is just around the corner. We urge policymakers, industry leaders, workers, and everyday Americans to speak up.

If you value energy independence, grid reliability, domestic jobs, and constitutional government, then these proposals deserve your support.

We also call on EPA to go further and fully repeal the 2015 carbon standards for new coal plants, which were left untouched in the agency’s secondary approach. These rules are just as flawed, and just as ripe for reversal.

America’s future is one of energy diversity. Coal, gas, nuclear, hydro, and renewables all have a role to play. But no source should be forced off the field because of political bias or regulatory overreach.

The path forward is clear: Let’s build an energy policy rooted in science, grounded in law, and driven by reliability, not ideology.

That starts by passing these repeals. America’s power needs coal—and now more than ever, it needs common sense.