Earthjustice Senior Counsel Lisa Evans was the sole witness invited by the minority to testify before the Subcommittee on Environment hearing titled “A Decade Later: A Review of Congressional Action, Environmental Protection Agency Rules, and Beneficial Use Opportunities for Coal Ash” on June 26, 2025.
On June 18, 2025 public interest groups challenged the Department of Energy’s illegal extension of the J.H. Campbell power plant past its planned expiration.
Sixty-eight coal plants can now release more mercury, arsenic, and other heavy metals known to damage children’s brain development, trigger asthma attacks, and cause cancer.
Community and environmental groups represented by Earthjustice sued the Trump administration over its unlawful decision to exempt dozens of coal-fired power plants from stronger pollution limits set in the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS. The exemptions, issued in April, allow 68 coal power plants to release more mercury, arsenic, and other heavy metals known to damage children’s brain development, trigger asthma attacks, and cause cancer.
Leasing more of our public lands to coal companies and padding their bottom lines will do nothing to promote energy security or reduce costs for everyday Americans.