USSC Mercury and Toxic Air Pollutants Decision Loss for Americans

Statement by Ken Kimmell, president, Union of Concerned Scientists

Published Jun 26, 2015

WASHINGTON (June 29, 2015)—The U.S. Supreme Court blocked an Environmental Protection Agency rule requiring coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxic air pollutants.

Below is a statement by Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“This is a temporary loss for all Americans, who will now be exposed to greater concentrations of mercury and other hazardous pollutants while EPA goes back and checks the boxes as the Supreme Court has instructed.  We are confident, based on the extensive science-based record, that the benefits of protecting public health justify the costs of this rule and that EPA can issue a revised rule in short order that meets the court’s requirements.  

“However, it is disappointing that a quarter century after the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, Americans are still waiting on the first-ever limits on mercury from coal-fired power plants, the single largest source of these toxic emissions.”