Trump’s EPA just let Big Coal become even dirtier by rolling back mercury emissions rules

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just proposed weakening air pollution standards for coal-fired power plants—protections that prevent an additional 11,000 premature deaths each year and one that nearly everyone supports, including the utilities that have already spent billions to comply with them. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards limit the emissions of more than 80 dangerous pollutants, including arsenic, lead, and mercury (a potent neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to children’s brain development). Who, then, would want the standards gone?  Bob Murray, a coal tycoon who reminds us of a cartoon supervillain. Murray has financial ties to President Trump (shocking, we know...) and even sent a wish list to the administration soon after Trump's inauguration. And sure enough, this current rollback was among Murray's wishes.