The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to roll back Biden-era limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas power plants, a move critics said would negatively affect Pennsylvanians’ health and the environment.

The agency estimated the proposal would cut regulatory costs for the power sector by $19 billion over 20 years starting in 2026.

Thomas Schuster director of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Sierra Club, explained the EPA wants to roll back standards on carbon pollution from power plants, a major source of emissions in Pennsylvania. He warned the move will put Pennsylvanians at risk.

“The rollback of these safeguards will mean that Pennsylvanians will be saddled with more extreme weather, more respiratory illnesses, more hospital visits and missed work,” Schuster outlined. “We’re basically out of time to deal with the climate crisis, and we can’t afford to reset the clock on the clean energy transition.”

Schuster argued the EPA cannot just scrap the standards. To replace them, it must go through the same formal rulemaking process it took to put the standards in place. He urged the public to speak up during the comment period required by the process. The EPA countered repealing regulations on coal and gas power plants will lower energy costs, boost national security and help power U.S. manufacturing and artificial intelligence.

Schuster believes EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s attempts at deregulation will have major future consequences. He stressed climate change results in more public health problems, premature deaths and catastrophic weather disasters. He contended the agency is ignoring clean energy options while promoting destructive policies.

“They’re talking about rolling back toxic pollution standards from these plants as well, which contribute to pollutants like mercury, which are neurotoxins, which can really affect the development of children,” Schuster noted.

Schuster emphasized climate change is also driving extreme weather in Pennsylvania, pointing to April’s storm, which knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people and how last year was Pittsburgh’s hottest on record, with cities across the state breaking 20 daily heat records in June. He added heavy rainfall last April triggered major landslides.

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