EPA just raised health costs by $2.8T, will kill thousands per year (upd.)

The EPA has finalized a rule that removes limits on greenhouse gas pollution from power plants, undoing regulations put in place under Presidents Obama and Biden. The agency also announced a separate rule that would try to stop the EPA from ever setting limits on power plant pollution in the future. An outside analysis from the Environmental Defense Fund estimates the rollback will cost about $1 trillion in health costs and $1.8 trillion in climate-related damages, and cause thousands of premature deaths, hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks, and tens of thousands of missed school and work days each year.

For homeowners, this doesn't change any rebate program or upgrade incentive directly, but it points to a broader shift in federal energy policy. Coal plants are still declining regardless of the rule, but the change may make it easier for new gas-fired power plants to be built without pollution limits, including plants going up to power data centers. More gas generation tied to fewer restrictions could mean higher electricity costs and health-related costs in areas near those plants over time.

The rule is expected to face legal challenges, since the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases, and courts have blocked similar rollback attempts before. Whether this rule survives, and whether it actually changes what power plants get built in your area, is not yet settled.