How Trump’s repeal of the greenhouse gas rule could double new emissions from Georgia

The Trump administration wants to repeal a Biden-era rule that limited greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. That rule gave coal plants a choice: install technology to capture carbon emissions, or close by 2032. New natural gas plants would have had to either add carbon capture or run less often. Environmental and public health groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the American Public Health Association, are suing to block the repeal.

In Georgia, the change could significantly raise emissions. Georgia Power, the state's largest utility, had planned to retire several coal plants because running them with carbon capture was too costly. But once Trump was elected, the company got approval to delay retiring units at two coal plants, Scherer and Gaston, which together emitted more than 10 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2024. Georgia Power is also building new natural gas plants to meet rising electricity demand from data centers. Under the Biden rule, those gas plants would have run about 40 percent of the year, producing roughly 4 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Without the rule, one analyst estimates they could run 85 percent of the year, producing about 8.5 million tons — more than double.

The repeal is not final. There will be a public comment period, and the lawsuit could slow or stop it. Southern Company, Georgia Power's parent, says it wants "regulatory certainty" but did not address its own goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.