EPA’s proposed repeal of Biden-era power plant rules solidifies the Trump administration’s plan to discard the social cost of carbon.
The proposal — released last week — would scrap carbon pollution limits for new gas- and existing coal-powered plants. It came packaged with a regulatory impact analysis that doesn’t monetize the repeal’s climate damages or grapple in any way with the potential economic impacts of increased planet-warming pollution.
EPA’s analysis of costs and benefits — which the agency is required to complete for economically significant actions — instead focuses overwhelmingly on the economic benefits of removing the carbon standards.
The absence of a social cost of carbon, while expected, means the metrics aren’t likely to pop up in any future Trump administration rule.
