EPA Finalizes Affordable Clean Energy Rule Replacing Clean Power Plan With Weaker Standards

On June 19, 2019, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule, replacing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan with regulations designed to extend the lifetimes of heavily polluting coal-fired power plants. The ACE Rule established no meaningful limits on carbon pollution and EPA’s own analysis projected it would cause over 1,630 premature deaths by 2030 from increased fine particulate matter and ozone smog. The rule represented the culmination of coal industry wishes delivered by a former coal lobbyist using government authority to dismantle climate protections, with the Orwellian “Affordable Clean Energy” name obscuring a policy that would increase pollution at nearly one in five of the nation’s coal plants.

From Clean Power Plan to Coal Industry Giveaway

Trump’s March 28, 2017 executive order had directed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to review and repeal the Clean Power Plan, which aimed to reduce power sector carbon emissions 32% below 2005 levels by 2030. After Pruitt’s resignation amid corruption scandals, Andrew Wheeler—former coal lobbyist for Murray Energy—methodically executed the repeal and replacement. Wheeler held the only hearing on the repeal proposal in Charleston, West Virginia—the heart of coal country—rather than in diverse locations representing affected communities. The ACE Rule focused on minor “heat rate improvements” at individual coal plants rather than the Clean Power Plan’s broader approach of shifting electricity generation from coal to cleaner sources.

EPA’s Own Analysis Predicts Increased Deaths

EPA’s own modeling showed the ACE Rule would lead to 1,400 premature deaths from fine particulate matter by 2030, with total premature deaths from PM2.5 and ozone reaching 1,630—deaths that would not occur under the Clean Power Plan. The rule would actually increase pollution at nearly one in five coal plants, contrary to its “Clean Energy” branding. EPA analysts projected the ACE Rule would prevent only minimal carbon emissions reductions compared to doing nothing, while the Clean Power Plan would have achieved significant reductions. Wheeler approved the rule despite EPA scientists’ findings that it would cause preventable deaths, prioritizing coal industry profits over public health.

Industry Wish List Implementation

The ACE Rule directly implemented the wish list that Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray had handed to Trump administration officials in 2017. The rule’s focus on extending coal plant lifetimes reflected Wheeler’s former client’s business model—Murray Energy operated numerous coal mines supplying power plants that would otherwise retire due to economics and environmental regulations. By weakening carbon standards, the rule subsidized coal plants’ continued operation with the cost paid in premature deaths and accelerated climate change. The rulemaking demonstrated regulatory capture’s ultimate expression: a former coal lobbyist using EPA authority to benefit his former client at the expense of public health and climate.

Legal Defeat and Rule Vacation

In January 2021, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the ACE Rule, finding it failed to meet Clean Air Act requirements. The court remanded the rule back to EPA to develop new regulations consistent with the law, rejecting the Trump administration’s attempts to limit EPA’s authority to address power sector carbon emissions. The legal defeat came after years of litigation by states, environmental groups, and public health organizations challenging the rule’s inadequacy. The ruling affirmed that EPA could not abandon its statutory obligation to meaningfully regulate greenhouse gases from power plants, though the years of litigation had delayed climate action and allowed continued pollution.

Significance

The Affordable Clean Energy Rule represents regulatory capture at its most lethal—a former coal lobbyist using government authority to implement his former client’s agenda despite EPA’s own analysis showing it would cause over 1,600 premature deaths. The rule’s Orwellian naming exemplified climate denial’s rhetorical strategies: framing increased pollution as “clean energy” and coal plant life extension as “affordable.” Wheeler’s methodical dismantling of the Clean Power Plan demonstrated that regulatory capture need not be chaotic or corrupt—it could be professional, bureaucratically competent, and devastating to public health and climate protection. The rule validated concerns that allowing industry lobbyists to lead regulatory agencies would result in agencies serving their former clients rather than the public. The eventual legal defeat confirmed the rule’s illegality but only after years of unnecessary pollution and climate damage—demonstrating how captured agencies could delay needed regulations even when courts would ultimately require them.