Golden Parachutes in the Smog

In recent days, even as coal giant Murray Energy was declaring bankruptcy, the Trump administration has continued relentlessly rolling back federal pollution standards for the coal industry. From toxic water protections to bedrock clean air safeguards, Trump and his cronies are making sure the public pays the price for coal pollution, while wealthy coal executives enjoy golden parachutes into retirement and the personal fortunes they’ve amassed at the expense of workers and the public. While the White House should be focused on supporting a transition for coal workers and communities as the nation moves to clean energy, they’re instead busy delivering on a coal industry wishlist that won’t reverse coal’s decline, but will instead further pollute our air and water in order to pad the bottom line for an elite few.   

Last week, former coal lobbyist and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler announced two major rollbacks of environmental standards meant to keep our water clean and safe. First, Wheeler introduced a plan that would severely weaken the water toxics standards known as Effluent Limitation Guidelines -- which were were put into place to stop coal plants from dumping their toxic liquid waste into local rivers, streams, and waterways. Believe it or not, coal plants have historically been the nation’s single largest source of toxic water pollution, releasing more than the next nine industries combined.

The second rollback was directed at the Coal Combustion Residuals rules, which govern the disposal of coal ash, a floury waste from coal plants that is -- shockingly -- the second-largest solid waste stream in the nation after household garbage. Coal ash is laced with dangerous toxic pollutants that can cause children to have significant developmental issues and can contaminate entire ecosystems with harmful heavy metals like mercury and arsenic. By rolling back these rules, Wheeler has created gaping loopholes that will allow coal plant owners to skirt commonsense safeguards for waste disposal, increase instances of water contamination, and put the health of thousands of communities at risk. 

In another move to help his fossil fuel friends, that same week Trump announced the formal start of the process to remove the US from the historic Paris climate agreement. This costs all of us -- the lack of climate leadership harms our standing in the world and puts us all in more danger. As wildfires rage, hurricanes intensify, and sea levels rise, it’s infuriating to see the Trump administration continue to put the bottom line of fossil fuel executives ahead of the health and safety of all American families -- again and again and again.

Finally, working our way down the coal industry’s wish list, Trump’s attack on the Clean Air Act continues as well. This month, in a move designed to support similar efforts by the White House, the Senate considered plans to roll back key provisions of a program known as New Source Review, which requires that our oldest coal plants install modern pollution controls when they make major upgrades. And soon the Trump EPA is expected to release a final plan to eliminate protections against mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal plants -- despite the fact that these standards have broad bipartisan support and have been in place for years. Virtually every coal plant in the nation has already complied with the rules, slashing mercury levels in the seafood we eat and reducing a dangerous source of pollution that is especially dangerous to pregnant moms. As senators Lamar Alexander, a Republican, and Tom Carper, a Democrat, wrote in USA Today this week:

Today, thanks to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, children and families are breathing cleaner air and our waters and streams are less polluted. The mercury rule, which limits mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants, has resulted in 90% less mercury in the air than a decade ago. But now, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with a proposal that asserts it is no longer “appropriate and necessary” to protect the public from our country’s largest sources of mercury and air toxic emissions….

Today, every utility in the country has fully complied with the mercury rule. Changing the rule after billions of dollars have already been spent means that utilities will have less certainty about federal regulations, and it will be more difficult to maintain steady electricity prices for American families in the future.

The gains we have made over the past decade to protect children and families from dangerous mercury pollution should not be lost. The mercury rule has been a success, and changing it just doesn’t make sense.

We know the coal industry is in decline, as coal companies continue to go bankrupt. The bankruptcy announcement by Murray Energy, the nation’s largest private coal company, made it clear that the coal mining industry has no cards left to play. As I told NPR, that’s why it’s resorting to scare tactics, at a time when our focus should instead be on supporting coal workers and communities as the shift to clean energy continues. 

We are not taking this sitting down. We’ll keep fighting for clean air and water and for the people harmed by these rollbacks. We’ll keep fighting for a just transition for coal industry workers and coal communities. And we’ll keep fighting for a safe climate for everyone. Join us.