EPA Lifts Carbon Limits on Coal, Gas Plants — SkimNews
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- EPA announced it will lift carbon emission limits on coal- and gas-burning power plants, reversing Biden and Obama era climate policies as part of a broader Trump administration deregulation push.
- Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along party lines in 2022 that the EPA lacks independent authority to regulate carbon emissions.
- Fossil fuel companies donated at least $75 million to Trump's 2024 campaign, with Energy Transfer Partners and its CEO giving at least $25 million; oil and gas firms also donated nearly $12 million to Trump's 2025 inauguration fund.
- Trump solicited energy industry contributions during his 2024 campaign and characterized their donations as part of a "deal," per the column.
- Cara Daggett, a Virginia Tech professor, argues in her 2018 paper "Petro-Masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire" that the American right's energy posture reflects a cultural identification of fossil fuels with masculinity and green energy with effeminacy.
- China has surpassed the US in solar panel production at an alarming rate, undermining US competitiveness in clean energy, per the column.
Why it matters: The EPA rollback strips federal carbon limits from coal and gas plants — a move Trump openly tied to energy industry "deals" worth at least $75 million in campaign cash — while China outpaces the US in solar production. Donegan argues the administration's climate hostility reflects petro-masculinity, not just donor enrichment, so material incentives alone won't explain why the US resists energy transition.
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