What EPA's greenhouse gas rollback means for Texas
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The Environmental Protection Agency rolled back Biden-era greenhouse gas limits for power plants, agency head Lee Zeldin announced in Houston this week at the G20 energy conference.
Why it matters: Zeldin argues the rollback will make energy and electricity for consumers more affordable, but environmental groups and experts warn it could increase pollution and harm public health — especially in Texas, which already leads the country in carbon emissions from power plants.
State of play: The Biden administration limited carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and natural gas plants.
- The EPA has also proposed eliminating the remaining federal greenhouse gas standards for power plants.
Follow the money: The EPA estimates that its rollback will save $310 billion over roughly two decades. Texas' natural gas industry could see a "big advantage," Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at the University of Houston, tells Axios, as gas becomes more competitive with wind and solar.
- The rollback could also help keep older coal plants running longer by removing costly carbon capture requirements, he says. "They'll find ways to keep it going … especially when the demand has been so incredibly high in the state."
Threat level: The rollback targets carbon dioxide, but coal plants that stay open longer could also keep emitting nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and heavy metals, Krishnamoorti says.
- Nitrogen oxides contribute to air pollution and can cause breathing problems in the Houston region, which is home to Texas' largest coal plant, in Fort Bend County.
- Fossil fuel emissions are a leading driver of climate change, contributing to rising temperatures, sea-level rise and extreme weather — all of which directly impact Houston.
What they're saying: "There's going to be carbon emissions that we will continue to see grow in the state of Texas because of this change," Krishnamoorti says.