‘Needless Cruelty’: Trump’s EPA Weakens Standards Limiting Mercury, Air Toxins From Coal Plants

The Environmental Protection Agency said the move aligns with the administration’s goal of “restoring American energy dominance,” a phrase it has repetedly used to justify environmental protection reversals that sideline worsening climate impacts in deference to fossil fuel interests.

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Just days after announcing the repeal of the endangerment finding, the Trump administration last week weakened another regulation, this time concerning mercury and other toxic air pollutants from coal-fired power plants.

On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the repeal of the Biden-era amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), effectively allowing coal-fired power plants to emit more brain-damaging mercury and other harmful heavy metals such as nickel, arsenic, and lead. The agency also revoked a requirement for power plants to have systems in place to monitor the amount of pollution they emit in accordance with air pollution standards.

EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi announced the move from the Mill Creek Generating Station, a massive coal plant next to the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. Coal-fired power plants are the largest single human source of mercury pollution.

The standards, first issued in 2012 by the Obama administration, were strengthened and updated by the Biden administration in April 2024 to reflect the latest advancements in pollution control technologies. Mercury and the other heavy metals targeted by the regulation are highly toxic and dangerous to human health, capable of causing severe damage to the nervous, digestive, and immune systems, as well as the lungs and kidneys. They are also responsible for extensive environmental damage, poisoning fish and wildlife as they deposit in soil and water.

Environmental groups were quick to denounce the move, which many called “unlawful” and said would lead to higher health-related costs.

Surbhi Sarang, Senior Attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, described it as “needless cruelty.” “The Trump administration is willfully ignoring evidence that coal plants can reduce their pollution in readily available ways for reasonable cost – and American families will be the ones paying the price,” Sarang said.

Hayden Hashimoto, attorney at Clean Air Task Force, said the “unprecedented, unlawful, and unjustified” repeal openly defies congressionally mandated efforts to reduce hazardous air pollution from industrial facilities.

In announcing the repeal, the EPA said the Biden-era amendments to the regulation were “unnecessary” and contributed to “significant regulatory uncertainty”. It added that the move aligns with the Trump administration’s goal of “restoring American energy dominance,” a phrase it has repeatedly used to justify environmental protection reversals that sideline worsening climate impacts in deference to fossil fuel interests.

Less than two weeks ago, the EPA repealed the endangerment finding – the legal framework that underpins the federal government’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. And earlier this month, President Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Defense to purchase more electricity from coal-fired power plants.

Coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, is the single-largest source of fossil fuel carbon emissions (40%), responsible for over 0.3C of the 1.2C increase in global average temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, and a major contributor to air pollution. Nations worldwide, including the US, are turning away from coal for more cost-effective energy sources like gas and renewables.

Featured image: Tom Grundy/hongkongfp.com.