Christine Ho, christine.ho@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C. - The Environmental Protection Agency has begun the official process of formally repealing both its most recent update to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and its greenhouse gas emission standards under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act. This comes as Trump and Zeldin have proposed to end over 30 provisions that limit pollution and protect the health of Americans.
Donald Trump has already exempted 68 coal-fired power plants from MATS, giving these power plants a free pass to release tons of poisonous mercury and other toxic pollutants into the air for two years.
According to the Sierra Club’s estimates in the Trump Coal Pollution Dashboard released today, repealing MATS would allow affected coal-fired plants to more than triple the amount of mercury they can release into the air and water, and release 30 percent more particulate matter. Repealing greenhouse gas standards would allow some of the largest plants to release nearly seven times as much carbon dioxide.
In response, Sierra Club Climate Policy Director Patrick Drupp issued the following response:
“There is nothing more ironic and insulting than the Environmental Protection Agency attempting to gut protections that protect our environment, our health, and our lives. If Lee Zeldin’s despicable deregulatory agenda is realized, toxic air pollution will skyrocket. That means more heart attacks, more asthma attacks, more birth defects, more premature deaths, all because the Trump Administration wanted to throw the coal industry a bone.
“Americans ought to be disgusted and outraged that our government has launched an assault on our health and our future. The Sierra Club will not stand by and let this corrupt administration destroy these critical, lifesaving guardrails.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.