China and Democrats against our new EPA emissions rule

EPA Repeals Biden-Era Power Plant Emissions Rule as China and Senate Democrats Both Push to Keep It

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it is repealing Biden-era amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, rolling back 2024 regulations that the Trump administration argues would have strangled America's coal sector. The repeal will save an estimated $670 million.

The earlier MATS rules, including the original 2012 rule and the 2020 Trump EPA rule that reaffirmed it, will remain in place. EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi said in a statement that those existing standards are "fully protective of human health risks."

What makes this story remarkable isn't the policy itself. It's who lined up against it.

According to the Daily Caller, on Aug. 11, 2025, the People's Republic of China submitted a public comment to the EPA opposing the repeal. Beijing's government told American regulators, in writing, that it wanted the Biden-era restrictions kept in place.

When Beijing objects to a deregulatory action that benefits American energy producers, the policy is probably working.

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