Statement: EPA tells power plants to clean up their act
New rules will slash toxic pollution, improve health
WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday finalized new rules to reduce air, water and climate pollution from coal and new gas plants. The new standards will:
- Reduce mercury pollution from certain coal plants by about 70 percent. Mercury is so toxic that just fractions of an ounce can contaminate waterways and make fish unsafe to eat. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has issued fish consumption warnings for 16 lakes and all coastal waters because of elevated mercury levels.
- Slash the quantity of heavy metals and other pollutants dumped by power plants into the nation’s waterways and require legacy coal ash ponds to reduce their risk of spills. Coal ash is a waste product from coal-fired power plants that can smother landscapes and contaminate waterways with toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury and selenium, and many legacy ponds are accidents waiting to happen. All Texas coal plants have coal ash disposal sites that are leaking contaminants, according to an Environmental Integrity Project study.
- Cut climate-warming pollution from existing coal and new gas plants. Forty-five of the fifty biggest climate polluters in the United States are power plants that burn coal and/or gas. Three coal power plants in Texas are in the top 10 highest greenhouse gas polluting plants in the country.
Texas is the largest consumer of coal in the nation and has 13 coal-burning power plants remaining in operation. Five of those plants are scheduled to retire or switch to gas as a fuel by 2028. Coal’s contribution to Texas electricity production has dropped from 36% in 2014 to less than 10% last month, when it produced less electricity than solar energy.
A December study attributed 27,000 “excess” deaths in Texas since 1999 to pollution from coal power plants.
The carbon pollution standards also apply to new gas plants which run more than 40% of the time. There are more than 15 gigawatts of gas plants in some stage of development in Texas, however about 80% of these are “peaker” plants which would not be subject to the rule.
In response to the EPA’s announcement, Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas Research & Policy Center, released the following statement:
“Toxic air, contaminated water and an ever-warming climate used to be the price we had to pay to heat our homes, fuel industries or even turn on a lightbulb. Pollution from coal plants still kills more than 300 Texans every year – that’s tragic and increasingly absurd. In 2024, with clean, renewable energy producing record amounts of electricity, Texans should no longer have to pay for power with our health.
“Today’s announcements by the EPA send a clear message to polluting power plants: It’s time to clean up or shut down. We applaud the EPA and President Biden for these steps toward cleaner air and water while ensuring a more stable future for our kids and grandkids.”