EPA Victorious In Reducing Mercury Emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency came out victorious in a federal appeals court as politicians debated over the agency's new rule to significantly reduce mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants. The new rule, known as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), is aims to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxic chemicals from coal-burning power plants.

MATS is part of the Obama Administration's initiative to clean up the environment in correlation with the Clean Air Act. The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that while the nation's air quality has improved since the 1990s, air pollution remains a threat to both adults and children living in the U.S. It increases rates of asthma, heart disease, stroke, allergies and a number of other health conditions.

Under MATS, coal-burning power plants will lower their mercury emissions by as much as 90% and acid gas emissions by 88%. This would have a positive benefit on residents' health, lowering rates of respirator infections and illness. Air pollution is directly linked to thousands of deaths annually, many of which involve young children and the elderly with weakened immune systems.

On the surface, MATS appears to be a positive initiative with no real repercussions. Upon further inspection, however, there's a very real impact to lowering the emissions of coal-burning power plants. One of the three federal appeals court judges, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, agreed that lowering mercury emissions is a critical step in cleaning up the environment, but he also noted that the heavy financial burden would cripple many of the current coal-burning power plants in operation.

"The estimated cost of compliance with EPA’s Final Rule is approximately $9.6 billion per year, by EPA’s own calculation, said Judge Kavanaugh. "To put it in perspective, that amount would pay the annual health insurance premiums of about two million Americans. It would pay the annual salaries of about 200,000 members of the U.S. Military. It would cover the annual budget of the entire National Park Service three times over."

Even with the heavy cost of MATS hoovering around $10 billion per year, the Energy Information Administration states that nearly 2 in 3 coal-burning power plants are already in compliance with the new rule. The remaining plants will have until March 2015 to make the necessary changes to become compliant.

Do you think MATS is a positive initiative to clean up the environment? Let us know in the comments section below!