Under new rules introduced by the US government, long-term coal power plants must control 90% of their carbon pollution if they plan to operate beyond 2039.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it has now finalised a suite of rules to reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants in a bid “to protect public health, advance environmental justice and confront the climate crisis”.

These rules will set stricter emissions standards for existing coal plants and new natural gas plants and recommend carbon capture and storage technology for the emissions.

In addition to carbon standards, the EPA also announced rules for coal ash management and toxic metal and water pollution from coal plants.

The power sector is the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the US. The EPA has tried to enforce emissions standards on the sector twice before but failed both times. Most recently, in 2022, the Supreme Court rejected the Clean Power Plan, which was first...