Lawyers for U.S. environmental regulators have rejected claims that new pollution standards should be paused to help Montana’s Colstrip power plant.
This year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released new standards limiting the neurotoxins and cancer-causing chemicals emitted by coal plants. The standards require plants to filter out that pollution.
Montana’s coal-fired power plant in Colstrip is one of the largest emitters of these pollutants in the country.
Last month, two of the owners of the Colstrip plant, NorthWestern Energy and Talen Montana, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause the standards. The companies say the costs to get the Colstrip plant into compliance threatens its survival and the state’s power reliability.
Lawyers for the EPA refuted the companies' claims. Over 90% of coal plants in the country already have the filtration technology in place. The agency says Colstrip’s failure to modernize is a “self-inflicted harm” that does not justify a court-mandated pause. The response filing also says EPA found that no coal-fired plant would have to retire as a result of these changes.
Power plants have three years to comply with the new standards. The EPA's proposed regulations have been celebrated by health care professionals and climate advocates as a win for public health.
