The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly drafted a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases from coal and gas-fired power plants in the US. In its proposed regulation, the agency argued that greenhouse gases from power plants “do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution” because they are a small and declining share of global emissions.

“The argument is a solid argument,” Bracewell’s Jeff Holmstead, who served in the EPA during both Bush administrations, told The New York Times.

But he wondered if it would hold up under a legal challenge. “I just don’t know if you’re contributing 3 percent of greenhouse gas emissions the court will say ‘that’s not significant’ when there’s hardly anybody that contributes more than that.”