"On Friday the Trump administration officially rolled back a series of Biden-era environmental regulations on coal plants, including some intended to clamp down on mercury pollution. Environmental advocacy groups and experts have decried the decision as risking human healthmercury has been shown to cause serious neurological damage, especially in infants. The decision effectively reverts regulations to those set in 2012 by the Obama administration."
"Those earlier rules allowed power plants that burned a particularly dirty form of coal called lignite coal to emit more mercury than plants that burned other forms of the fossil fuel. The Biden-Harris Administration's anti-coal regulations sought to regulate out of existence this vital sector of our energy economy. If implemented, these actions would have destroyed reliable American energy, said Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin in a statement."
"Today's action by the Trump EPA moves us backward to weaker pollution protections and dirtier air. It will allow coal plants to pour more mercury and toxic pollution into our air, which will then get into our water, food and ultimately our children's bodies, says Surbhi Sarang, a senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund with expertise in power sector regulation, adding that the group plans to challenge the action in court."
The Trump administration rolled back Biden-era environmental regulations governing coal plants, including standards targeting mercury emissions, filterable particulate matter and emission monitoring systems. The rollback reverts protections to 2012 Obama-era rules that allowed lignite-burning plants to emit more mercury than other coal plants. The Environmental Protection Agency justified the repeal by calling prior rules unduly burdensome to companies. Environmental groups and experts warn the change risks human health, citing mercury's neurological harm to infants, and plan legal challenges. The move is part of broader administration efforts to support the declining coal industry and preserve coal-fired energy reliability.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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