The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving to eliminate limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, according to reporting by the New York Times. The plan involves rescinding a Biden-era rule requiring plants to cut most emissions by 2039 or shut down, alongside a broader legal argument that the EPA lacks authority to regulate such emissions under the Clean Air Act at all. Campaigners warn the move could permanently strip future administrations of the power to regulate power-plant emissions, at a time when UN scientists continue to link greenhouse gases to more frequent and severe extreme weather.

The action follows the EPA's decision in February 2026 to scrap the 2009 "Endangerment Finding", which had established the health risks of greenhouse gases and underpinned the agency's regulatory authority, as well as the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2025 and other international climate bodies earlier in 2026. The justification for the new rule rests on claims, disputed by scientists, that greenhouse gas emissions pose no harm to public health or the environment. Legal challenges are expected, mirroring the response to the Endangerment Finding repeal, though campaigners note that even a successful court challenge could take years to resolve—time they say the planet cannot afford given accelerating global warming.