Carbon pollution not only impacts the climate but the health of communities. Ensuring we have clean air will improve lives and pay dividends for the U.S. economy. On May 11, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new carbon pollution standards for coal and natural gas-fired power plants, which will deliver up to $85 billion in climate and public health benefits over the next two decades. These standards will reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants from new and existing power plants, helping the United States achieve its climate goals while ensuring that people can breathe clean air. Importantly, the EPA estimates that these updated rules will have little impact on families’ electricity bills.

Cutting pollution and emissions will save lives and improve health, and the EPA expects this rule to provide $85 billion in total climate and health benefits over the next 20 years.

These regulations would help the United States avoid up to 617 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 20 years. Reducing fossil fuel emissions can profoundly impact people’s lives as many types of air pollution can cause serious and expensive health problems like premature deaths, pre-term birth, respiratory infections, and heart problems – all with associated household and healthcare costs. Cutting carbon emissions also reduces climate costs that come from changes in water supply and water quality due to both drought and extreme rainfall, the increased risk of storm surges and flooding along coasts, risks to the electric grid, and substantial disruptions to agriculture like crop failures.

In just 2030, the lower emissions from this rule would provide $5.4 billion in climate and between $6.5 and $14 billion in health savings.

In 2030 alone, the proposed standards would provide between $12 and 20 billion in climate and health benefits and prevent substantial health and economic costs across the U.S., including:

• approximately 1,300 fewer premature deaths,
• more than 800 fewer hospital and emergency room visits,
• more than 300,000 fewer asthma attacks,
• 38,000 fewer school absence days, and
• 66,000 fewer lost workdays.

The new standards would avoid 89 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2030, which would be comparable to taking 22 million gasoline-powered cars off the road.

These new standards will benefit nearly every state but will be particularly important for states that are still heavily reliant on fossil fuel power plants.

The table below takes the annual economic benefits for 2030 and estimates how those benefits would be shared across the country. Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania would see the largest climate benefits from this regulation with $557, $529, and $413 million in benefits, respectively in 2030, but nearly every U.S. state would see tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in climate benefits.

The states with the largest potential climate benefits are also the states that would see that largest reduction in harmful carbon emissions. In Florida alone, the reductions in power plan emissions would be equivalent to keeping 2.3 million cars off the road in 2030.