EPA Administrator Lee Zelding suggests scrapping the Obama-Biden Clean Power Plan and restoring the more practical mercury standards from 2012, which were revised in 2024.

Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health, called the proposals “yet another in a series of attacks” by the Trump administration on the nation’s “health, our children, our climate and the basic idea of clean air and water.”

She called it “unconscionable to think that our country would move backwards on something as common sense as protecting children from mercury and our planet from worsening hurricanes, wildfires, floods and poor air quality driven by climate change.”

“Ignoring the immense harm to public health from power plant pollution is a clear violation of the law,’’ added Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “If EPA finalizes a slapdash effort to repeal those rules, we’ll see them in court.”

The suggested repeals are among the most significant actions by Trump’s EPA, as the administration persists in dismantling climate and clean energy policies from the Biden era. This reversal allows power plants scheduled for retirement to keep operating.

The Trump administration has declared plans to repeal significant Biden-era EPA regulations targeting greenhouse gas emissions and mercury pollution from coal and natural gas power plants, originating from the 2015 Obama “Clean Power Plan,” Biden’s “Clean Power Plan 2.0,” and the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin argued that these rules were excessively restrictive to industry and hindered economic progress. The proposed rollback would remove carbon dioxide emission limits for existing coal plants and new natural gas plants while also easing restrictions on mercury and other toxic air pollutants.

Climate alarmism rooted in questionable science has lost much of its influence … for now.