New EPA proposal to limit coal-fired emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new regulations on Wednesday that would curtail emissions from coal-fired power plants, according to AP.

Proposed regulations would reduce emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants such as nickel and arsenic. Such emissions were proven toxic and contributing to health problems for children and adults.

The agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards were enacted in 2012. Michael Regan, EPA Administrator said previously enacted standards have delivered 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions.

However, an EPA legal finding in February mentioned that regulating toxic emissions under the Clean Air Act is “appropriate and necessary” to protect the public health, the Associated Press reported.

The proposal was welcomed by environmental groups and public health advocates. While, senior director of energy campaigns for the Sierra Club, Holly Bender stressed how any level of mercury emission is a dangerous level.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito saw the proposal as a continuation of Biden’s administration “war on coal and affordable, reliable energy.”

Conor Bernstein, a spokesman for the mining group said the proposition will result in “a less reliable and increasingly expensive supply of electricity as the nation continues to struggle with energy-driven inflation.”

World Health Organization (WHO) cites effects of mercury on health include harming immune and nervous systems. Additionally, it also threatens foetus’s and children’s development.

Human activity is the main cause of mercury releases, WHO states, particularly coal-fired power stations.