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At EPA hearing, Andrea McGimsey stands up for crucial mercury protections

The Trump administration is moving to weaken a rule that protects Americans from mercury, arsenic and other toxic emissions. Our staff are having none of it.

The Trump administration is moving to weaken a rule that protects Americans from mercury, arsenic and other toxic emissions. Our staff are having none of it.

On March 18, Andrea McGimsey, senior director of our national network’s Global Warming Solutions program, testified at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing on a proposed rollback of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. The current standards protect the public by limiting emissions of mercury, arsenic and other toxic substances from coal- and oil-burning power plants. The Trump administration seeks to chip away at these protections’ legal foundation, making it harder to regulate hazardous materials in the future.

“We’re faced with the prospect of actually moving backwards in basic protections of the environment and public health,” said Andrea. “These power plant emissions pollute our air and water, and even contaminate the fish we eat. We vigorously protest these assaults on the environment.”

During the EPA’s public comment period on the rollback, we gathered statements from our members and supporters in defense of the existing protections.

Read more.

Photo: The mercury-emitting Castle Gate Power Plant near Helper, Utah, was retired in 2015, thanks in part to the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. Credit: David Jolley via Wikimedia Commons

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