Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon says his state will fight a new rule package from the Environmental Protection Agency impacting Wyoming’s legacy energy industries, specifically coal and natural-gas fired power plants.
Under the nationwide rules, coal fired units would have to either shut down by 2032, install carbon dioxide capture technology by that same deadline, or convert to natural gas co-firing by 2030, with a forced shutdown by 2039.
Gordon said the rules announced Thursday are devastating and have an apparent goal of ending coal communities in Wyoming and elsewhere across the country. “EPA has weaponized the fear of climate change into a crushing set of rules that will result in an unreliable electric grid, unaffordable electricity, and thousands of lost jobs. This Administration has turned its back on the very industries and states that have made our country strong,” Gordon said.
He further vowed Wyoming will challenge the new rules in court.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal-fired power plants accounted for more than 16 percent of the nation’s electrical generation production last year. Natural gas accounted for another 44 percent, making fossil-fuels the top source of electricity across the country.
