Protect public health from power plant pollution

Decreased mortality, fewer heart attacks, and lower cases of asthma. These are all the real health benefits of protecting communities from the mercury and air toxins emitted by power plants. EPA just proposed strengthening standards that limit emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution from power plants that burn coal and oil. These proposed new standards would be a much-needed upgrade, but they don’t go far enough to protect public health and the environment.

Tell EPA to further strengthen safeguards against mercury and toxic air pollution!

NRDC and our partners just submitted comments from 580,000 people urging EPA to cut deadly soot pollution from power plants. To everyone who took action – thank you!

Next on our checklist for cleaning up power plants: mercury and other toxic air pollutants.

EPA just proposed strengthening standards that limit emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution from power plants that burn coal and oil. These proposed new standards would be a much-needed upgrade, but they don’t go far enough to protect public health and the environment.

The proposal would tighten the mercury emission limits for plants that burn dirty lignite coal, and it would require continuous pollution monitoring at all coal plants. The new proposal would also tighten the standard for hazardous particle pollution. With EPA taking comment on a range of potential options for this standard, we must encourage EPA to go with the most protective option.

The power sector is one of the nation’s biggest polluters. Power plants are among the country’s largest sources of mercury, a neurotoxin that can harm children’s developing nervous systems and reduce their ability to think and learn. Toxic power plant pollution also increases the risk of heart attacks, asthma, and cancer.

EPA should move quickly to further strengthen standards to ensure that all communities are better protected from the toxic air pollutants that power plants emit. These public health improvements are especially important for children and vulnerable populations, and for communities near coal-burning power plants.

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Your Message

Subject Strengthen public health protections against toxic air pollution

Dear EPA Administrator Regan:

Message Body

Thank you for your recent proposal to strengthen mercury and air toxics standards (MATS). I urge you to strengthen these standards even further to protect public health. The proposal would tighten the standard for particle pollution, and I encourage you to go with the most protective option.

While most coal plants have cut emissions substantially under the original MATS, there are still some power plants across the country emitting unacceptable levels of hazardous air pollutants like mercury and metals.

Controlling mercury and toxic air pollution from power plants reduces the risk of fatal heart attacks, cancer, and neurodevelopmental delays in children. And we’ve already seen significant evidence that strong standards are effective – EPA estimates that its current MATS safeguards prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 asthma attacks every year.

These public health improvements are especially important for children and vulnerable populations, and for communities near coal-burning power plants.

Therefore, I hope you further strengthen MATS safeguards and ensure that all communities are better protected from the toxic air pollutants that power plants emit.

Thank you.

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