Pa. Republican congressmen applaud Trump administration plan to roll back Biden-era climate rules

Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers say it will boost the state’s economy. Environmental groups say it will worsen climate change and harm public health.

• Zoë Read/WHYY
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  Zoë Read is a Delaware reporter for WHYY News.
  She received her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Delaware in 2011. While at the university, Read was the managing editor for the features section for the student newspaper, The Review.
  She received her Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University in 2012. While at the university, Read wrote a 6,000 word thesis on HIV/AIDS in Harlem. An excerpt of the piece was later published on theatlantic.com.
  Read most recently worked for the Capital newspaper in Annapolis, where she covered Anne Arundel County news. While at the paper, she won awards from the MDDC Association for her work in arts & culture, health, environmental and public service journalism.
  Read’s freelance work also has been featured in the Kansas City Star, the Detroit News and the online version of The Atlantic.

FILE - Vice President JD Vance, right, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, left, listen as Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, center, speaks in East Palestine Fire Station on Feb 3, 2025, in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania are applauding two Trump administration proposals that opponents say would upend Biden-era rules that aim to reduce climate-warming emissions and toxic air pollutants from power plants, harming human health.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin on Wednesday said the proposals aim to bolster President Donald Trump’s goal to “restore American energy dominance.”

Zeldin accused the Biden administration of strangling the power industry and “suffocating” the economy to protect the environment. He argued the EPA’s new rules would save the energy sector more than $1 billion a year, and reduce rate payers’ electricity bills.

“[The Biden administration sought to] make all sorts of industries, including coal and more, disappear — regulate them out of existence,” Zeldin said.

“We will use coal for power generation, to mine for critical minerals, and to export to our allies. Today, we are taking an important step towards putting America back on track.”

The first proposal would repeal a Biden-era rule that aimed to phase out greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel plants. The proposal rejects what is known as the “endangerment finding,” which is the scientific basis for the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The announcement marks the latest move in a continued effort to roll back former President Joe Biden’s efforts to tackle climate change.

The second proposal would amend the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which under the Biden administration became more restrictive.

Known as MATS, the regulation requires plants to reduce emissions of toxic pollutants such as mercury, which is linked to neurological damage among children. Zeldin said the proposal would revert the rules to 2012 standards, which he argues were effective at reducing mercury emissions.

Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, who represents north central Pennsylvania’s 9th District, said repealing the Biden-era regulations would strengthen energy production in the state.

“Repealing these Biden-era rules will help so many businesses continue to operate, expand, invest, and allow the United States to become truly energy dominant again,” Meuser said.

Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who represents northeast Pennsylvania’s 8th District, called Biden-era rules a “nail in the coffin” for the state’s energy markets. He said the construction of new natural gas plants would be “virtually impossible” under current Biden environmental regulations.

Both Meuser and Bresnahan represent areas with active natural gas production.

Bresnahan, who has invested in more than 20 fossil fuel companies, pointed to the demand for data centers in Pennsylvania as a reason to provide more support to the power industry.

“Between data centers AI and the growing domestic manufacturing base, the simple fact is we need more electrons on the grid to power all of this.”

The proposals, which will go out for public comment before being finalized, are likely to face legal challenges.

An Associated Press investigation found the Trump administration proposals target environmental rules that could save an estimated 30,000 lives.

The Natural Resources Defense Council said the proposals would impact human health and worsen climate change. The environmental organization threatened legal action if the EPA finalized the rollbacks.

“Power plants are the largest industrial source of carbon emissions, spewing more than 1.5 billion tons of greenhouse gases annually,” the NRDC said in a statement. “The EPA claims this pollution is insignificant – but try telling that to the people who will experience more storms, heat waves, hospitalizations and asthma attacks because of this repeal.”

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