Hello and welcome back to our weekly climate newsletter.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has moved to repeal a Biden-era rule that limits the amount of toxic air pollution produced by coal-burning power plants.
The action could allow the plants to release more dangerous heavy metals, including brain-damaging mercury and cancer-causing arsenic, marking yet another step by the administration to reverse Biden policies.
It comes a week after the EPA announced it would repeal its landmark 2009 finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health.
EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi claimed that the 2024 amendments to the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards had "imposed burdensome and unnecessary requirements that put grid reliability and baseload power at risk," adding that human health protections established in 2012 remain in place.
"By repealing these needless and costly changes made by the Biden-Harris administration, we are demonstrating that we do not need to choose between protecting human health and economic grow - we can choose BOTH," he wrote in a social media post. The EPA says rescinding the standards is expected to save an estimated $670 million.
Health experts and environmental groups say that the decision is a grave mistake that could come with deadly consequences for all Americans.
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