Today, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler finalized his attack on the life-saving Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. As we all strive to keep our families safe in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, this is the absolute worst time to weaken health protections.
Today’s attack on the Mercury and Air Toxics standards is an outrage to anyone who cares about babies and children. To eviscerate standards that safeguard Americans against pollution linked to brain damage in babies is unforgivable.
Moms Clean Air Force has been fighting for almost a decade to protect babies from mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin emitted from coal-fired power plants that harms fetal brain development.
For more than a year, we have been mystified as to why Trump’s EPA would cripple a rule that is a fully implemented, highly effective pollution standard that is protecting babies’ brains from mercury and other air toxics from coal plants.
The rule finalized today by Administrator Wheeler would allow coal fired power plants to spew more mercury into the air. And make no mistake: Right now the US gets 28 percent of its energy from coal.
As a mother, and as a grandmother, I am appalled that Trump’s EPA has finalized a rule that so severely compromises our nation’s greatest resource: The brains and bodies of our children. This is a direct assault on our children, but especially those in low-income and minority communities who are disproportionately harmed.
These same communities are more vulnerable to the impacts of Covid-19. New research shows that breathing polluted air increases your risk of succumbing to the worst ravages of Covid-19.
This attack crosses the line for moms, dads, and advocates for children everywhere. In opposing this attack, Moms Clean Air Force stands shoulder to shoulder with a a diverse coalition of stakeholders — including members of Congress from both parties, the American Academy of Pediatrics, faith leaders, the NAACP, and even the regulated industry itself. Together, we urged Administrator Wheeler not to move forward with this plan.
By ignoring these voices, Wheeler today has shown that his true priorities lie far from babies, children, moms and families. This EPA Administrator, and this President, clearly care more about coal company profits than they do about our children.
We will not allow our children to be poisoned. We will continue to do what we parents do best: challenge this administration’s deregulatory agenda with the full power of our more than one million members, for the health-harming hypocrisy that it is.