WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency on June 11 announced yet another rollback of critical health protections, proposing to significantly weaken limits on mercury air pollution from power plants and eliminate limits on utility greenhouse gas emissions.
The changes, if finalized, increase the risk of power plant’s mercury ending up in the air and depositing in water supplies, contaminating fish and drinking water. The rollbacks also would scrap existing obligations for utilities to curb their greenhouse gases that contribute to the climate crisis. Yet utilities account for roughly 24% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
The Trump administration is undoing vital EPA and other agency health protections, even as it claims to pursue a “Make America Healthy Again” agenda to improve public health.
The following is a statement from Bernadette Del Chiaro, an Environmental Working Group senior vice president and energy expert:
There’s no sugarcoating it. Mercury is bad for your health in extremely small doses. It only takes a teaspoon of mercury to contaminate a 60-acre lake and make fish unsafe to eat, especially for pregnant women and children. Millions of people could be at increased risk of mercury exposure if the EPA gives in to utilities’ pressure to roll back the existing limits.
And why? If we know coal-fired power plants are among the primary sources of mercury pollution and we know mercury can make Americans sick, why roll back already existing regulations designed to protect public health?
The Trump administration should focus instead on promoting investments in clean, safe energy sources like wind and solar, rather than rolling back health-protective standards and propping up an industry in decline.
Easing controls on coal-fired power plants’ emissions of mercury and greenhouse gases might give utilities some small near-term financial gain, but the public will lose out long-term from the very real threats of mercury pollution, a worsening climate crisis and the lost opportunity to transition to renewable energy.
And the following is a statement from David Andrews, EWG’s acting chief science officer:
The risk of mercury from power plants polluting air, water and fish is well documented. The majority of people’s exposure comes through eating contaminated fish. Mercury is neurotoxic and exposure leads to developmental delays in children and impaired cardiovascular health in adults. In addition, mercury can harm the immune system, kidneys, and nervous system.
The EPA’s mercury emissions for power plants have led to a significant decrease in pollution to our air and water. Weakening those limits could cause mercury pollution to spike in some areas.
For any plan to improve health in America, it is critical to safeguard existing protections against some of the most serious environmental pollutants.
Rolling back emissions standards for power plants will make Americans less healthy.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
