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- The Trump administration on Friday said limits on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants were unnecessary as they were too costly.
- Those remarks have sparked an outcry from environmentalists who feared the next step would be looser rules favoring the coal industry at the expense of public health.
- Under the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, or MATS, enacted under former President Barack Obama, coal-burning power plants were required to install expensive equipment to cut output of mercury.
- Those emissions can harm pregnant women and put infants and children at risk of developmental problems.
- The EPA has been thinking about a rule change since August, but a group of electric utilities said looser rules were not needed since they have already invested billions of dollars in technology to cut emissions of the pollutant and comply.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Friday said limits on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants were unnecessary as they were too costly, sparking an outcry from environmentalists who feared the next step would be looser rules favoring the coal industry at the expense of public health.
Under the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, or MATS, enacted under former President Barack Obama, coal-burning power plants were required to install expensive equipment to cut output of mercury, which can harm pregnant women and put infants and children at risk of developmental problems.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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