The Trump administration announced on Friday that it would withdraw air regulations for power plants that limit mercury and hazardous air toxics at an event in Kentucky, a move that it says will increase baseload power but public health sources say will harm the public health of the most vulnerable groups in the US.
Donald Trump’s EPA said easing pollution standards for coal plants would lower costs for utilities running older coal plants at a time when demand for electricity is rising amid the proliferation of datacenters used for artificial intelligence.
But environmental groups say weakening standards for mercury, a neurotoxin that impairs brain development in infants, and other air toxins could lead to higher health-related costs.
The Biden-era Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS), which updated standards set in 2012 under the Obama administration, remains in place after the Supreme Court refused to stay the rules after a group of mostly Republican states and industry groups led a legal challenge to suspend it.
According to the Environmental Defense Fund, that rule would cut allowable mercury pollution from coal plants by 70%, reduce emissions of nickel, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals from coal plants by two-thirds, and result in $420m in health cost savings by 2037.
The EPA said in a statement Wednesday that the 2012 Matts rule “provides sufficient safety to protect public health” and that its proposed 2024 additions would cost more than the benefit.
Utilities are phasing out aging coal-fired generators, which are major sources of mercury and carbon emissions, but Trump has promised to ease barriers to meet growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.
He declared an “energy emergency” last year to keep aging coal plants slated for closure open and to justify measures exempting aging coal plants from key air regulations.
Last spring, he issued a statement inviting coal plants to request by email a two-year exemption from MATs regulations as part of his administration’s energy emergency. Sixty-eight plants were exempted.
Last week, the EPA announced it was revoking the “endangerment finding” that gave the agency authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and the White House ordered the Pentagon to buy power from coal plants for military use.
Coal-burning power plants are among the largest sources of hazardous air pollution, including mercury, lead, arsenic, and acid gases, as well as benzene, formaldehyde, dioxins, and other organic hazardous air pollutants.
According to the Energy Information Administration, coal plants generate less than 20% of US electricity.
