A U.S. Chamber analysis found significant flaws with the methodology used in the EPA’s new carbon pollution standards for coal and natural gas-fired power plants.
The U.S. Chamber’s Global Energy Institute released a new analysis examining the U.S. Department of Energy (EPA)’s recent rule that aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Given the essential role that affordable and reliable electricity plays in every aspect of our lives, this rule has the potential to be among the most impactful proposals from the Biden Administration.
The rule will target electricity from coal and natural gas, which today make up about 60% of America’s electricity production. The U.S. Chamber strongly supports a low carbon transition and has been among the biggest supporters of investments in research, development, and deployment for a host of technologies – including renewables and carbon capture and sequestration. We’re also leading an effort to enact permitting reforms that will address extensive delays to building transmission lines and site renewable energy projects.
However, our analysis reveals major flaws in the methodology used by EPA to draft the rule, resulting in inaccurate claims about the costs, benefits and anticipated impacts of the rule.
Specifically, we found:
- Unrealistic claims of massive emissions reductions occurring in the absence of the new rule, which leads to significantly suppressed cost projections.
- Omitting materially increased electricity demand from other EPA rulemakings, which will place greater stress on the power grid.
- Modeling outputs and real-world data that call into question the deployment timelines of carbon capture and sequestration, which is the technology that EPA is relying on as the centerpiece for industry compliance with the rule.
It is our hope that EPA will recognize and address these shortcomings in the rulemaking process. The climate challenge requires transparency from both government and industry, and for all stakeholders to work together in good faith. Our analysis shows that greater transparency from the EPA is necessary here to support the ongoing affordability and reliability of our energy supply.