The Trump Tsunami shows no sign of receding as the coal lobbyists appointed by Trump to run his EPA are gearing up for mercury deregulation at the behest of a coal tycoon and miners under a friendly Kavanaugh court.
Kavanaugh’s decisions have already supported the coal industry’s objections to regulation on economic grounds at the expense of potential damage to the nervous system of infants and children, and will support judicial relief for coal pollution over public health.
“Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who is now the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is expected in the coming days to send the proposal to the White House for approval.” states the New York Times.
Trump’s current target is the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which set limits on air pollutants like mercury, arsenic and metals. Murray Energy had sued the Environmental Protection Agency and won a major victory after the Supreme Court struck down the rule, in a decision confirming the D.C. Circuit.
Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, and cancellation of the Obama Clean Power Plan, can be traced to the influence of one of the last successful coal tycoons, innovative miner Robert E. Murray, the 77-year-old chairman of the Murray Energy Corporation. Mr. Murray in 2016 outlined his views in a lecture in West Virginia at West Liberty University.
”This global warming hoax,” Mr. Murray told the students, “it’s a movement that is destroying America.”
He warned students in 2016 about government bureaucrats (“They are rejects compared with people in the private sector”); about Bernie Sanders (“The problem with socialists is that they eventually run out of other people’s money,” paraphrasing Margaret Thatcher); about the leading Republican presidential candidate (“I’m not sure about Donald Trump”); and about Ivy League schools (“These schools are lousy”). He says he vehemently believes that humans are not responsible for global warming, saying Pope Francis was “totally wrong” for calling climate change an urgent issue.
“Weakening of the mercury rule — which the E.P.A. considers the most expensive clean air regulation ever put forth in terms of annual cost to industry — would represent another major victory for Murray and the coal industry.”
From c. 2010 Scientific Data:
“Mercury is known to damage the nervous systems of children and fetuses. Mercury is neuro-, nephro-, and immunotoxic. The development of the child in utero and early in life is at particular risk. Mercury is ubiquitous and persistent. Mercury is a global pollutant, bio-accumulating, mainly through the aquatic food chain, resulting in a serious health hazard for children. Acute or chronic mercury exposure can cause adverse effects during any period of development. Prevention is the key to reducing mercury poisoning. The mercury problem is mainly a man-made problem and therefore can be minimized by implementing efficient measures.
Methylmercury accumulates in fish, shellfish, and sea mammals and biomagnifies in the aquatic food chain. The concentration of methylmercury is greater in the predator than in its prey, and the mercury accumulation increases up the food chain.
Mercury was found as a contaminant in high fructose corn syrup, which may be part of children’s diets.
Over 5% of US women aged 16-49 years had mercury levels above the US Environmental Protection Agency reference dose of >5.8 μg/L.
A power plant produces 10 mg of mercury to produce the electricity needed to light an incandescent bulb, while a compact fluorescent bulb contains 2.4 mg of mercury. In essence, the switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs over incandescent bulbs is a lower net effect of overall mercury in the environment. There is no dispute over the life cycle analysis in terms of a net reduction of environmental impact; however, there is the public health issue of preventing direct exposure to children in a home if a bulb breaks in the household.”
(“The US Environmental Protection Agency web site lists actions to reduce exposure when a compact fluorescent light bulb breaks, including the following: opening a window, leaving the room for 15 minutes, and methods for the physical clean, including sealing the bulb in a plastic bag.
Recent findings indicate that once in waste sites, broken compact fluorescent light bulbs continue to be a source of mercury exposure for several days.”)
Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2010.07.002
“The (draft 2018 EPA) proposal would not eliminate the mercury regulation entirely, but it is designed to put in place the legal justification for the Trump administration to weaken it and several other pollution rules, while setting the stage for a possible full repeal of the rule.”
“The details of the rollback about to be proposed would also represent a victory for Mr. Wheeler’s former boss, Robert E. Murray, the chief executive of the Murray Energy Corporation, one of the nation’s largest coal companies. Mr. Murray, who was a major donor to President Trump’s inauguration fund, personally requested the rollback of the mercury rule soon after Mr. Trump took office, in a written “wish list” he handed to Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
The proposal would also hand a victory to the former clients of William Wehrum, the E.P.A.’s top clean air official and the chief author of the plan. Mr. Wehrum worked for years as a lawyer for companies that run coal-fired power plants, and that have long sought such a change.”
“The Obama administration had estimated that it would cost the electric utility industry an estimated $9.6 billion a year to install that mercury control technology, making it the most expensive clean air regulation ever put forth by the federal government. It found that reducing mercury brings up to $6 billion annually in health benefits — a high number, but not as high as the cost to industry. However, it further justified the regulation by citing an additional $80 billion in health benefits from the additional reduction in soot and nitrogen oxide that occur as a side effect of controlling mercury.
The new proposal echoes Judge Kavanaugh’s prior argument and directs the E.P.A. to no longer take into account those “co-benefits” when considering the economic impact of a regulation.
Supporters and opponents of the proposal believe that the Supreme Court is likely to uphold it, particularly if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed.”
Mr. Murray, President Trump, and Trump’s NHTSA, have all stated that either global warming does not exist, is not man made, or there is nothing to be done about it.
NYT- edited and abridged.
See also “A Crusader in the Coal Mine, Taking On President Obama”, New York Times 2016.