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EPA just raised health costs by $2.8T, allowing more power plant pollution (upd.)
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- DeepHorus
The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a policy on Monday, September 14, 2026, that eliminates federal limits on greenhouse gas pollution from power plants, a move that will saddle Americans with an estimated $2.8 trillion in long-term health and climate costs and thousands of premature deaths each year. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in fossil fuel contributions over his career, pushed the rule through as the latest step in the Trump administration’s broader rollback of environmental protections. The decision removes Obama- and Biden-era restrictions on coal and gas plant emissions, the kind of pollution that has fueled record heat and wildfires around the world this summer.
The rule was expected to be finalized this week, according to a New York Times report citing two people familiar with the proposal. Repealing the existing limits is estimated to cause $1 trillion in health costs and $1.8 trillion in climate damages, according to updated analyses. Those figures translate into thousands of avoidable deaths per year from worsened air quality and accelerating climate disruption.
The policy targets power plants, which remain a major source of greenhouse gases even as coal generation declines and natural gas expands to power data centers. Scientists have established that human activity, primarily fossil fuel combustion, is warming the global climate and destabilizing ecosystems that humans depend on for water, food, and temperature regulation. The fossil fuel industry has spent decades minimizing these facts and delaying action, a pattern critics say continues with this rule.
Removing pollution limits will make it harder and more costly to address climate change, experts warn. The longer action is delayed, the greater the conflict and hardship caused by disrupted ecosystems and extreme weather. The EPA’s decision also signals that federal policy will continue to favor polluters over public health.
No serious person contests the reality of human-caused climate change, but Zeldin has acted as what critics call the chief saboteur of the Environmental Protection Agency. The rule is expected to face legal challenges from states and environmental groups. Its ultimate impact will depend on courts and future administrations, but the immediate effect is clear: more pollution, higher costs, and thousands of lives lost each year.
