E.P.A. Weakens Limits on Mercury From Coal Plants
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration rolled back pollution limits for coal-burning power plants, allowing increased emissions of heavy metals like mercury, a neurotoxin linked to brain damage.
- This regulatory rollback is part of broader efforts to revive the declining U.S. coal industry despite scientific evidence that coal burning harms public health and contributes significantly to global warming.
- EPA officials, including Administrator Lee Zeldin, stated the agency is not removing limits on toxic pollutants but reverting to less stringent standards from 2012, replacing the stricter 2024 regulations enacted under the Biden administration.
- Most U.S. coal plants have already complied with the 2012 pollution standards by installing pollution controls, and many plants that did
