On Friday, the Biden administration released its 2024 Spring Unified Agenda, announcing that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will propose carbon pollution standards for existing gas power plants by the end of the year. Evergreen Action Senior Power Sector Policy Lead Charles Harper released the following statement responding to this commitment to take action on a critical driver of carbon pollution:

“The Biden-Harris administration’s announcement that EPA will swiftly regulate carbon pollution from existing gas plants is a case of promises made, promises kept. By making significant progress on these rules this year, in tandem with programs to ensure carbon pollution cuts come with community air quality improvements, the Biden administration will be one step closer to limiting pollution from one of the single largest drivers of the climate crisis: fossil gas power plants.

“After making historic progress to limit fossil fuel pollution from coal and new gas plants in April, EPA has laid out a plan committing to finish the job. These unregulated gas plants are expected to emit three-quarters of all power sector pollution next decade, and they are the final and largest source of pollution left unregulated by April’s historic rules. EPA is crucially pairing these rules with two standards tackling other air pollutants that harm people living near the fenceline of plants, which are often in communities of color and low-income communities. We applaud Administrator Regan and President Biden for committing to an expedited timeline for each of these proposed rules, and we look forward to their timely release."

In May, Evergreen released the final version of its EPA Report Card, which found that the Biden administration had successfully finalized 9 of 11 power plant rules in its first term. Existing gas rules, along with a National Ozone Standard, were still unfinished.