The EPA Needs A Power Check

Not long ago, if people predicted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would issue rules to help kill off gas-powered cars or reliable electricity sources like coal and natural gas, they would have been called unhinged.

But that’s what the agency did. And now the problem goes beyond anything one administration can fix on its own.

The EPA has a long history of going well beyond what Congress has authorized, but in the last decade, the agency took overreach to shocking levels.

President Obama’s EPA finalized the Clean Power Plan rule that tried to shift electricity generation away from coal power plants. The agency was effectively assuming the role of national grid manager. In 2022, the Supreme Court struck down this rule, explaining “a decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body.”

Did this stop the EPA from again reasserting vast authority that common sense tells us Congress never would have authorized? Nope. The Biden EPA issued a greenhouse gas power plant rule even more heavy-handed than Obama’s Clean Power Plan in shutting down reliable electricity generation.

The agency’s biggest overreach has been the Biden administration rule, often referred to as the de facto electric vehicle mandate. According to the agency, by 2032, the rule would result in internal combustion engine vehicles being less than 30% of new light-duty vehicles sold.

The compliance cost of the rule is a staggering $760 billion, based on the agency’s own estimate. To put the cost in context, the projected and then-shocking cost of the 2009 stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was $787 billion.

To its credit, the Trump EPA is trying to get rid of these Biden administration rules, and there’s a good chance its efforts will be successful. But success is not guaranteed. And future administrations will inevitably use the EPA and the Clean Air Act as a pretext for trying to change the economy and restrict individual freedom.

To achieve a durable solution that ends these abuses, Congress needs to do its part and pass legislation. The good news is that some leaders in Congress recognize the need and are taking action.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) have introduced the End EPA Abuse Act (H.R. 9453 and S. 4931). The bill makes it clear that there are common sense limits to what the agency can do. Considering the agency tried to help kill off gas-powered cars and act as a national grid manager, the bill expressly prohibits the EPA from issuing such rules under the Clean Air Act, along with other overreaching rules.

The bill doesn’t prevent the agency from aggressively doing its job to protect the environment. Rather, it creates protections to ensure the agency isn’t constantly trying to usurp congressional power.

This legislation has wide support, deservedly so. Recently, a coalition of over 40 organizations sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to support the bill. And 20 state attorneys general already sent a letter to Senator Lee and Rep. Clyde expressing their support for their bill. They explained, “The End EPA Abuse Act of 2026 would close the door on some of EPA’s worst overreach while still leaving the agency plenty of room to perform its legitimate functions.”

Unless lawmakers think it is fine for the EPA to restrict the types of cars Americans drive or develop rules that undermine the reliability of the electricity grid, among other extreme abuses, then supporting this bill should be a no-brainer.

Let’s hope members of Congress get on board and help stop the worst EPA abuses once and for all.

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Daren Bakst is director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment and a Senior Fellow.