Trump is making coal plants even dirtier as AI demands more energy

Trump’s deregulation spree aims to make it easier to quickly construct new data centers and fossil fuel infrastructure to power them

“The Trump administration is wiping out health protections critical for protecting children from toxins like mercury just to save the coal industry some money,” Nicholas Morales, an attorney with nonprofit environmental law group Earthjustice, said in a press release today.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its repeal of Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that the Biden administration strengthened in 2024. The Trump administration is rolling the standards back to where they were in 2012 when the Obama administration initially instituted them. Weakening the regulations is supposed to save $78 million each year starting in 2028, according to an EPA fact sheet.

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