The EPA will delay issuing new, wider-reaching standards for existing methane gas-fired power plants until after the 2024 election but will move ahead with greenhouse gas limits for existing coal and new gas plants this spring, the agency said Thursday. Many environmental justice groups praised the decision to revise the standards for existing gas power plants to include limits on more pollutants. Some environmental groups criticized the delays, arguing it threatens urgently-needed greenhouse gas emissions reductions and opens the possibility of such a rule never being implemented at all if President Biden is not reelected.
“We understand the urgency of this climate crisis, but we also understand the urgency of front line communities and the disproportionate impact of many pollutants that our communities are seeing,” Regan told Bloomberg. “There’s a lot of pressure here to move as quickly and as strategically as possible.” (Bloomberg $, Politico/E&E News, AP, Washington Post $, New York Times $; Sen. Whitehouse criticism: E&E $)