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The Trump administration just tossed out Biden-era restrictions on mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants. It’s repealing Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) just as electricity demand in the US ticks up with the buildout of new AI data centers.
Those standards are particularly impactful when it comes to pollution from coal plants responsible for around half of mercury emissions in the US. Mercury is a neurotoxin; high exposure has been linked to birth defects and learning disabilities in children. Exposure can also impact the kidneys and nervous system.
Trump’s deregulation spree aims to make it easier to quickly construct new data centers and fossil fuel infrastructure to power them
And yet the Trump administration is making power generation dirtier as the nation’s electricity needs grow with more data centers, domestic manufacturing, and electric vehicles. President Donald Trump’s deregulation spree aims to make it easier to quickly construct new data centers and fossil fuel infrastructure to power them — including coal plants.
“The Trump administration is wiping out health protections critical for protecting children from toxins like mercury just to save the coal industry some money,” Nicholas Morales, an attorney with nonprofit environmental law group Earthjustice, said in a press release today.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its repeal of Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that the Biden administration strengthened in 2024. The Trump administration is rolling the standards back to where they were in 2012 when the Obama administration initially instituted them. Weakening the regulations is supposed to save $78 million each year starting in 2028, according to an EPA fact sheet.