在关于负担能力的各种讨论中，环境保护局废除拜登时代的气候法规，预计将通过恢复廉价的基荷电力为美国人节省3100亿美元。
Amid all the talk about affordability, the Environmental Protection Agency’s repeal of Biden-era climate regulations is set to save Americans $310 billion by restoring cheap baseload power.
最终规则取消了环保局2024年的碳污染标准。这些标准超越了该机构根据《清洁空气法》赋予的权限，要求采用实际上尚不存在的排放控制技术——用环保局的话说，这些技术尚未被“充分证明”。拜登的规则通过设定电厂永远无法达到的标准，迫使电厂提前退役。
The final rule eliminates the EPA’s 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards. Those standards exceeded the agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act by requiring emissions-control technologies that do not actually exist yet — or in the EPA’s words, have not been “adequately demonstrated.” Biden’s rules forced power plants to retire early by setting standards they could never meet.
2024年规则也未考虑到最高法院在“西弗吉尼亚州诉环保局案”中的最新裁决，该裁决禁止环保局滥用该法案操纵美国人的能源选择并推高电价。
The 2024 rule also failed to account for the recent Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. EPA, which barred the EPA from misusing the act to manipulate Americans’ energy choices and drive electricity prices up.
“奥巴马和拜登政府发动了一场针对煤炭的战争，以摧毁可靠且负担得起的能源，”环保局局长李·泽尔丁在一份新闻声明中说。“特朗普政府上台是为了保护美国能源，并确保你负担得起照明用电。”他说，降低能源价格“只是开始”。
“The Obama and Biden administrations implemented a war on coal to destroy reliable and affordable energy,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a press statement. “The Trump administration has come in to protect American energy and to make sure you can afford to keep the lights on.” He said lower energy prices were “just the beginning.”
“充分释放美国能源的潜力意味着更多就业、更低价格和更繁荣的美国。”民主党人整个夏天在“负担能力”问题上大谈特谈，但他们的能源做法全面推高价格。共和党人应当强调，在政府撤销昂贵的联邦能源强制令之际，深蓝辖区（如华盛顿特区）正在实施此类强制令。
“Realizing the full potential of American energy means more jobs, lower prices, and a more prosperous America.” Democrats spent the summer talking a big game on “affordability,” but their energy approach raises prices across the board. Republicans should highlight that while the administration rolls back costly federal energy mandates that deep blue jurisdictions, such as Washington D.C., are imposing.
在哥伦比亚特区的案例中，能源强制令的成本高昂，以至于市政府豁免了自身遵守该规定的义务。该特区的法规规定，其新标准“不适用于向哥伦比亚特区政府出售的电力，不包括独立机构、当局或机构。”这种虚伪行为需要引起更多政治关注。这为特朗普总统和国会共和党人在中期选举前赢得一场政治胜利创造了独特机会。他们可以依据《自治法》利用宪法赋予的权力审查哥伦比亚特区议会的立法，以废除这些繁重的强制令。宪法明确赋予国会对哥伦比亚特区行使“专属立法权”，这在政治上很容易实现。
In the case of D.C., the energy mandate is so expensive that the city government exempted itself from following it. The District’s statue states that its new standard “shall not apply to electricity sold to the District of Columbia government, not including independent agencies, authorities, or instrumentalities.” That hypocrisy needs more political attention. It creates a unique opportunity for President Trump and congressional Republicans to get a political win before the midterm. They can use constitutional authority to review D.C. Council legislation under the Home Rule Act to repeal these onerous mandates. The Constitution explicitly gives Congress “exclusive Legislation” over the District of Columbia, making this easy to do politically.
由于这些所谓的绿色强制令，哥伦比亚特区的电力成本上涨了66%——高于邻州马里兰州（50%）和弗吉尼亚州（20%）。该特区的可再生能源强制令使合规成本增加了四倍，从2020年的6500万美元增至2025年的2.726亿美元，平均每位客户每年增加775美元的负担。
As a result of these so-called green mandates, D.C. electricity costs rose 66 percent — more than neighboring Maryland (50 percent) and Virginia (20 percent). The District’s renewable energy mandates have quadrupled compliance costs, from $65 million in 2020 to $272.6 million in 2025, for an average added annual burden of $775 per customer.
为什么每个美国人都要为哥伦比亚特区政府自己拒绝支付的费用买单？
Why should every American pay a price that D.C.’s own government refuses to pay?
能源价格在很大程度上取决于公共政策。审视全国各地的能源成本，不难找出谁应为高价负责：蓝州支付的费用远高于红州。根据能源研究所2025年《持续能源研究报告》，拜登政府时期美国电价飙升了27%，绝大多数涨幅集中在蓝州。
Energy prices are a function of public policy more than anything else. Examining the costs of energy throughout the country, it becomes easier to put a finger on who’s responsible for high prices: Blue states pay far more than red states do. According to the Institute for Energy Research’s 2025 Always on Energy Research report, U.S. electricity prices spiked 27 percent under the Biden administration, with the vast majority of this price increase affecting blue states.
激进的绿色能源目标主要存在于倾向民主党的辖区，根据全国最大电网运营商的一项最新研究，这导致哥伦比亚特区、新泽西州、马里兰州、弗吉尼亚州、伊利诺伊州、特拉华州和密歇根州等地区的电费飙升。与此同时，北卡罗来纳州、宾夕法尼亚州、俄亥俄州、肯塔基州、田纳西州、印第安纳州和西弗吉尼亚州等州预计不会出现价格上涨，因为它们没有实施绿色能源标准。
Aggressive green energy targets, primarily in Democratic-leaning jurisdictions, caused power bills to soar in areas like the District, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Delaware and Michigan, according to a recent study by the nation’s largest power grid operator. At the same time, states like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and West Virginia see no predicted price hike because they haven’t imposed green energy standards.
过去十年间，这些强制规定已让以蓝州居民为主的群体承担了178亿美元的合规成本，随着更多法规生效，这一数字预计将大幅增加。新泽西州居民平均每千瓦时电费支出为19.8美分，几乎是西弗吉尼亚州居民平均支出的两倍。
These mandates have already cost mostly blue state residents $17.8 billion in compliance costs over the last decade, with this number expected to significantly increase as more regulations come online. The average New Jerseyans spend 19.8 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, almost twice what the average West Virginian pays.
这些价格与民主党竞选时宣称的“负担得起”信息截然矛盾。共和党应凸显这一巨大脱节。如果华盛顿想要兑现负担得起的承诺，可以从废除推高电价、迫使美国人为照明支付更多费用的能源强制令开始。
Those prices flatly contradict the “affordability” message that Democrats are running on. Republicans should highlight this massive discontinuity. If Washington wants to deliver on affordability, it can start by repealing energy mandates that are driving up electricity prices and making Americans pay more to keep the lights on.
安德鲁·福莱特在华盛顿特区地区的一家非营利组织从事研究分析工作。
Andrew Follett conducts research analysis for a nonprofit in the Washington, D.C. area.