Trump’s EPA Abandons Its Duty to Protect Public from Power Plant Air Pollution

Today, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced proposals to repeal the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), protections that limit the amount of mercury, arsenic, and other toxic pollution, and the 111 Power Plant rule limiting climate-heating greenhouse gas pollution from coal and gas-fired power plants.

Jill Tauber, Vice President of Climate and Energy at Earthjustice, issued the following statement:

“Trump’s EPA is abandoning its responsibility to protect the public and the environment against the many harms of fossil burning power plants. Mercury damages kids’ developing brains. Arsenic causes cancer and birth defects. Carbon pollution drives climate change and racks up massive costs. The critical protections that EPA now seeks to undo exist because science and the law demand that EPA act. EPA is giving the fossil fuel industry a pass on its pollution at the expense of our health and our communities.”

Background on MATS

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, adopted in 2012, were the first national limits on toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants. They have been highly successful, reducing emissions by over 85% and delivering critical public health protections nationwide.

Despite the success of these standards, coal-fired power plants remain the largest domestic source of many toxic metals, including mercury. These metals fall to the ground and enter waterways, where mercury accumulates in fish and threatens human health. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that harms brain development in infants and children. Arsenic and other heavy metals power plants release are linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and birth defects.

The standards have long been opposed by some coal plant operators and their allies. Most power plants have already installed the technology to meet these standards. Weakening the rule now serves no public interest and only rewards a minority of lagging polluters at the expense of public health. The burden of this pollution will fall disproportionately on communities near these power plants.

In April 2025, the Trump administration exempted 68 coal-fired power plants from pollution limits set in the strengthened MATS rule. These came after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin invited corporations to email the agency to request exemptions from clean air standards. Corporations were told they could cite “national security” or “lack of available technology” as justification.

Background on the 111 Power Plant Rule

In 2024, the Biden administration finalized the first-ever standards to limit carbon pollution from new gas and existing coal-burning power plants, requiring them to control 90% of their carbon pollution.

Fossil-fueled power plants are the largest industrial source of climate pollution, responsible for more than 30% of U.S. carbon pollution, as well as other dangerous air pollution that harms our health.

The Biden-era rule was projected to create up to $370 billion in climate and public health net benefits over the next two decades and cut annual carbon emissions by the same amount as taking 328 million gas cars off the road.