By Charles Young, WV News
WASHINGTON (WV News) — A Biden-era regulation that energy industry stakeholders said would shutter West Virginia’s coal-fired power plants is among the 31 rules the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of reconsidering.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Wednesday announced a slate of historic actions the agency plans to roll back, including the so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0.
“Today is the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen. We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more,” Zeldin said in a video.
The EPA released proposed rules for pollution standards for fossil-fuel-fired power plants in May 2023. They required coal and natural-gas-fired electrical generation facilities to capture or dramatically reduce carbon emissions in the years ahead or face closure.