EPA's Zeldin calls power rollback 'largest deregulatory action ever'

The EPA's move caps a broader pattern: earlier this year it overturned its own 2009 endangerment finding and repealed motor vehicle emissions rules. This repeal, finalized Monday, targets power plants, which the article notes are responsible for almost 25% of the nation's total climate pollution, second only to transportation. The timing was notable: the announcement came shortly after NOAA reported the 2026 summer was the warmest in U.S. history, about 3 degrees Fahrenheit above average.

Experts quoted in the article frame the rollback less as a climate policy in itself than as a stopgap for the AI buildout. Dan Romito of Opportune described it as a 'Band-Aid' that keeps old coal and gas plants viable for three to five years, giving the market time to incorporate geothermal and next-gen nuclear. He argued it also relieves investor apprehension about funding new, more efficient plants. Environmentalists, including Sierra Club's Holly Bender, called it a 'license to keep polluting.'

The stakes hinge on whether the proposed rescission of the EPA's regulatory authority survives the legal challenges the article says are inevitable. If it does, it could prevent future administrations from regulating these emissions at all. For data center operators, the near-term question is whether the promised stopgap power arrives before demand outpaces supply.