FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Prerna Sampat (press@ceed.org)
Environmental advocates condemn the dangerous deregulation of carbon emissions from power plants for unleashing life-threatening pollution & climate impacts on communities nationwide
September 14, 2026 | A coalition of environmental justice and national organizations, the Platform for a Just Climate, is condemning the Trump administration for ending carbon pollution limits for fossil fuel-fired power plants, sacrificing the nation’s health and safety to protect corporate profits. Granting the fossil fuel industry a free pass to spew heat-trapping gases endangers families and communities across the country, with the worst effects felt in Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and low-income communities.
Today, the Trump administration’s EPA has finalized the repeal of the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards for existing coal and new gas power plants. Simultaneously, the EPA has issued a proposal that would strip the agency of its authority to limit power plant pollution in the future.
The repeal of Carbon Pollution Standards is part of the Trump administration’s costly and deadly “deregulatory agenda” that has rolled back decades of progress on public health, climate, clean energy, and any limits on corporate polluters. These regulatory rollbacks have put more than 30,000 lives at risk annually and reversed at least $275 billion in annual cost savings.
According to EPA’s 2023 assessment, fossil fuel-fired power plants — including coal and natural gas — account for nearly a third (30%) of total U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions. Emissions from power plants are the second-largest source of CO2 pollution in the U.S., accounting for a quarter of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. Fossil fuel-fired power plants emit a range of harmful pollutants in addition to carbon dioxide, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, mercury, and other hazardous substances. These pollutants are linked to severe health impacts — including asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and early death, and other life-long health problems.
Simultaneously, the Trump administration has aggressively attacked clean energy deployment and pushed to revive expensive and polluting gas- and coal-fired power plants. The most effective way to lower electricity costs is through clean energy solutions, not by reviving dangerously outdated gas- and coal-fired power plants.
The Trump administration’s push to keep coal plants open past their lifespan is already costing ratepayers millions of dollars. For example, the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in Michigan, which the Trump administration ordered to remain operational past its retirement date, has cost Midwestern consumers more than $180 million to run due to its outdated, uneconomic energy production. Most recently, the Trump administration announced that it would spend $700 million dollars to support dying coal plants and a contested coal export terminal. These bailouts prop up expensive and unreliable coal plants that will make us sicker and make our utility bills more expensive.
By emitting nearly a third of U.S. energy-related CO2 pollution, fossil fuel-based power plants are accelerating climate change and supercharging extreme weather events. Hotter summers and colder winters lead to higher utility bills, while the serious health consequences of toxic pollution and extreme weather result in lost workdays and medical bills. The costs of recovery from future climate disasters are enormous and could be significantly reduced by shutting down and cleaning up gas and coal-powered power plants while transitioning to community-led clean energy solutions.
Coalition Members of the Platform for a Just Climate are calling on Congress to stand strong against the Trump administration’s costly and deadly deregulatory agenda and speak out for public health, climate action, and energy affordability.
Quotes from Coalition Members of the Platform for a Just Climate:
“This repeal is yet another dangerous rollback that puts fossil fuel profits ahead of people. Communities already overburdened by pollution, disproportionately Black, Indigenous, low-income communities, and communities of color, will face the consequences first and worst through dirtier air, worsening health outcomes, and escalating climate impacts. At a time when families need stronger protections, the Trump administration is once again sacrificing frontline communities to benefit polluters. We should be investing in healthier, more affordable, and just energy solutions, not turning back the clock on public health protections.”
– Dalal Aboulhosn, Managing Director of Program and Policy
Center for Earth, Energy & Democracy (CEED)
“The Environmental Protection Agency under Trump has failed to protect the environment. Once again, it sides with industry and against the public, stopping short the work that was in progress to limit the harm of fossil fuels.”
– Dr. Ana Baptista, Director
Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School
“This repeal does not stand alone. In 2026, this administration has already stripped the legal foundation for all federal greenhouse gas regulation by repealing the Endangerment Finding, rolling back Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that had cut mercury pollution from power plants by 86 percent, and gutting drinking water protections for communities already carrying PFAS in their bodies. Now they are coming for carbon pollution standards. These are not isolated decisions. This is a coordinated campaign to dismantle every protection that stands between polluters and the communities we have spent decades fighting to defend.”
– Dr. Beverly L. Wright, Founder and Executive Director
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
“Once again, the Trump administration is rigging the system to boost corporate polluter profits at the expense of Americans’ health and economic security. Instead of holding fossil fuel power plants accountable for emitting harmful pollution that makes people sicker and fuels more costly extreme weather and climate disasters, the Trump administration is rolling back lifesaving protections to further enrich industry executives. These moves will endanger the health and safety of communities and drive up energy and health care bills for families, hitting communities already bombarded by pollution the hardest.”
– Cathleen Kelly, Senior Fellow
Center for American Progress
“Donald Trump has taken a sledgehammer to decades of environmental and public health progress in order to tip the scales in favor of dirty, expensive fossil fuels. Sierra Club’s analysis found that Black and Indigenous Americans already face the heaviest energy burdens and are disproportionately harmed by fossil fuel-fired power plants, and this rollback will only make issues worse for underrepresented communities. Repealing lifesaving carbon pollution emission standards will make Americans sicker, drive up healthcare bills, and threaten our collective futures. The Sierra Club will continue to fight back against these dangerous and reckless attacks on our health and our wallets.”
– Patrick Drupp, Director of Climate Policy
Sierra Club
“The Trump EPA is attempting to destroy yet another critical public health and environmental protection to boost the bottom line of fossil fuel companies and their enablers. This shameful act runs counter to the law, to science, and to the public good. It will unequivocally leave the nation worse off, paid for by the health and well-being of communities across the US.”
– Dr. Rachel Cleetus, Senior Policy Director, Climate & Energy
Union of Concerned Scientists
“Power plants continue to harm our health every single day and worsen the climate crisis, with the heaviest burdens falling on low-income and communities of color that last for generations. Trump EPA’s unprecedented attacks on clean air and climate protections continue to put polluter profits over our lives. We will never stop fighting for our right to clean air and a livable future, and will hold the EPA to its mission and the law.”
– Anastasia Gordon, Director of Federal Policy
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
“The Trump administration continues to drive up energy costs for families while giving even more handouts to Big Polluters, threatening the health and safety of future generations and the historically excluded communities of color and communities with low wealth who live closest to polluting power plants. Fossil fuel CEOs are getting rich off of Trump’s rollbacks of pollution standards while we get sicker and poorer and made less safe due to climate-fueled disasters. The Environmental Protection Agency should do their job to protect the health of people and the environment instead of prioritizing polluters.”
– Matthew Davis, Vice President of Federal Policy and former EPA scientist
League of Conservation Voters
“This repeal is nothing more than an attempt to keep the dying fossil fuel industry alive. Our communities know what we need, and it isn’t to revive coal and gas-powered plants. Better solutions are at our disposal: solar, wind, battery, and energy efficiency models not only save us money in the long run, but they guarantee emissions reductions and ease the burden of pollution.”
– Melissa Miles, Executive Director
New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA)
“The EPA has a legal obligation to protect us from climate pollution from power plants. As millions of Americans suffer through more extreme heat, wildfires, and torrential storms, the Trump administration is denying what we know to be true: climate pollution is harming our health, welfare, and economy. Earthjustice and our partners will continue to defend climate protections and hold the Trump administration accountable.”
– Jill Tauber, Vice President for Climate & Energy
Earthjustice
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The Platform for a Just Climate (formerly known as the Equitable & Just National Climate Platform) is a national coalition of environmental justice groups and national environmental organizations from across the country united around a shared commitment to ending the environmental racism that has left economically disadvantaged communities, Indigenous communities, Black communities, and communities of color exposed to disproportionate levels of toxic pollution and bearing the brunt of the climate crisis. Our coalition has stood strong since 2019 around our shared vision for a just climate future—and our platform has grown to include over 300 signatory organizations from all over the country. Learn more at AJustClimate.org
