Current Issues

Avoiding Clean-Air Rules

In June, the Trump Administration announced two proposals to roll back restrictions on pollution from gas-and coal-fired plants.

The administration proposed repealing Clean Air Act Section 111 carbon pollution standards, which limit greenhouse gas emissions from gas- and coal-fired power plants, and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which limit mercury, acid gases, and other heavy metal emissions from these plants.

The proposed rollback is part of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s deregulatory agenda. It purports to lower the cost of living, but EPA’s own analysis shows that industry will pocket the cost savings due to the repeal, leaving everyday Americans with nothing but dirtier air.

If the EPA finalizes its proposal, both gas- and coal-fired plants would no longer have to invest in additional pollution control methods. The repeal would allow power plants to emit more hazardous air pollutants and dodge the planned installation of continuous monitoring equipment, which would improve compliance with standards.

Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) limit the amount of mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants and industrial pollution. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that ends up in the water and soil, and concentrates up the food chain, especially in fish. It is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and young children.

The proposed repeals could take a year or more to finalize. However, back in March of 2025, the Administration created a novel way for companies to potentially avoid complying with environmental rules: Simply send an email to the Environmental Protection Agency and request an exemption.

Both the EPA and the Administration have specifically encouraged fossil fuel power plants and industrial emitters to apply for “Presidential exemptions” so in the meantime, they will not have to comply. But these rollbacks affect all of us.

According to the Sierra Club’s estimates, greenhouse gas standards would reduce carbon pollution from the power sector by 68 percent. If we want to protect ourselves from the worst of climate change, we must go further, not backwards, in our fight against industrial pollution.

American families have suffered countless losses because their loved ones developed cancer, asthma, and other awful diseases by breathing polluted air. The protections that the Administration is trying to repeal are commonsense. They are the minimum for what we should accept as we fight for everyone’s right to breathe clean air.

Repealing MATS will triple the amount of mercury, lead, arsenic, and chromium that the nation’s dirtiest plants are allowed to release. Breathing in these metallic toxins can cause cancer and other illnesses, and they're particularly threatening to pregnant women and young children. The Administration’s proposals are particularly devastating for Americans living close to gas- and coal-fired plants.

While the road ahead will be exceedingly difficult, we have the power to make our voices heard and demand that our lives be valued. Now more than ever, we must speak up and hold industry and those in power accountable.