Overnight Energy & Environment — Biden tries to reverse Trump on power plants

by Zack Budryk and Rachel Frazin - 01/31/22 6:10 PM ET

Welcome to Monday’s Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. Subscribe here: digital-staging.thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

Today we’re looking at a new move by the Biden administration to reverse Trump-era power plant rules, pressure for climate action in Build Back Better from House Democrats and this weekend’s “bomb cyclone.”

For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk. Write to us with tips: rfrazin@digital-staging.thehill.com and zbudryk@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @RachelFrazin and @BudrykZack.

Let’s jump in.

Officials move to reaffirm power plant rule

A flag of the Environmental Protection Agency is seen outside their headquarters in Washington, D.C., on June 3

The Biden administration on Monday proposed restoring the legal underpinnings of power plant pollution regulations following a Trump administration rollback.

In 2020, the Trump administration undercut a regulation known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule by changing its legal justification in a way that made it more vulnerable to lawsuits.

What does it do? The MATS rule, in general, puts limits on how much of these toxic substances coal and oil power plants can release into the air. Mercury is a neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to children.

Neither the 2020 rule nor Monday’s action made any changes to the Obama-era standards themselves.

Instead, the Biden administration on Monday proposed to affirm that it is “appropriate and necessary” to regulate the emissions of these pollutants from power plants, while the Trump administration had said the regulations were not appropriate and necessary.

“Sound science makes it clear that we need to limit mercury and toxins in the air to protect children and vulnerable communities from dangerous pollution,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

“EPA is committed to aggressively reducing pollution from the power sector so that all people, regardless of zip code or amount of money in their pocket, can breathe clean air and live healthy and productive lives,” he said.

According to the EPA’s website, the standards are estimated to have prevented between 4,200 and 11,000 premature deaths annually.

Controversial from the start: At the time of the rollback, critics argued that the Trump administration was working to give polluters who wanted to sue in order to eliminate the rules an advantage in court. And, following the changes, a coal company challenged the MATS rule in court.

Read more about the announcement here.

DEMS PUSH BIDEN TO KEEP CLIMATE FUNDING

Twenty-three Democratic members of Congress on Monday called on President Biden to ensure that any amended version of the ambitious Democratic reconciliation bill retain its current climate and resiliency provisions.

The members, led by Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), noted a number of extreme weather events and natural disasters that have occurred in just the two months since the House passed its version of the package, including a tornado that killed at least 78 people in Kentucky.

“The $555 billion in climate investments that passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Build Back Better Act will help our nation meet the test of cutting climate pollution in half by 2030, a goal that you set and that science and justice require. As the deadly and devastating consequences of the climate crisis made clear throughout 2021, the time for transformational climate action is right now,” the members wrote.

“We urge you in the strongest possible terms to move swiftly to finalize the most comprehensive legislation that can pass the Senate and get this historic progress to your desk for your signature in the coming weeks.”

Who signed? The other signers of the letter were Democratic Reps. Cindy Axne (Iowa), Matt Cartwright (Pa.), Angie Craig (Minn.), Sharice Davids (Kan.), Antonio Delgado (N.Y.), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Josh Harder (Calif.), Jahana Hayes (Conn.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Dan Kildee (Mich.), Andy Kim (N.J.), Susie Lee (Nev.), Tom Malinowski (N.J.), Tom O’Halleran (Ariz.) Chris Pappas (N.H.), Katie Porter (Calif.), Kurt Schrader (Ore.), Kim Schrier (Wash.), Abigail Spanberger (Va.), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Dina Titus (Nev.) and Susan Wild (Pa.).

The signers included members associated with the centrist wing of the party and members considered to be particularly at risk in the 2022 midterms.

In December, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) declared after months of negotiations that he could not back the bill in its current form. Although Manchin has frequently clashed with progressives on energy and environmental issues, he has signaled willingness to back the bill’s climate provisions.