EPA declined to challenge federal utility on new gas plant

When the nation’s largest public utility recently decided to replace an aging coal plant with a new gas power plant, the Environmental Protection Agency had a host of questions about how the Tennessee Valley Authority evaluated the alternatives. The EPA noted the decision conflicts with President Joe Biden’s executive orders to decarbonize the power sector by 2035, and the TVA admits the proposed plant will release earth-warming carbon dioxide and methane pollution for decades to come. Despite EPA’s misgivings, the watchdog agency relented when it could have challenged the utility’s environmental assertions by referring the project to the White House Council on Environmental Quality.