Lives On The Line: Mercury Standard & Power Plants

This case study by Earthjustice details the legal battle over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which were designed to regulate toxic air emissions from power plants.

• The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), released by the EPA in 2012, are projected to prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, nearly 5,000 heart attacks, 130,000 asthma attacks, and over 540,000 missed work days annually.
• MATS aims to reduce mercury emissions by 75% to protect children and infants. The EPA estimated that over 300,000 newborns are at an elevated risk of learning disabilities each year due to prenatal mercury exposure.
• The U.S. Supreme Court remanded MATS on June 29, 2015, in a 5–4 decision, ruling that the EPA should have considered industry costs earlier in the process of determining if emissions were worth controlling, despite the health and environmental benefits outweighing those costs.
• The EPA concluded that power plants are the worst industrial polluters and that controlling toxic emissions is economically and technologically feasible. These reductions are estimated to yield annual health benefits between $37 billion and $90 billion, with a benefit-to-cost ratio of $3–$9 for every $1 spent by the power industry.
• On December 15, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected an attempt by the coal mining industry and its allies to overturn the standards.

APA

Earthjustice (2005). Lives On The Line: Mercury Standard & Power Plants. https://earthjustice.org/case/air-toxics-mercury-power-plants

Chicago

Earthjustice. Lives On The Line: Mercury Standard & Power Plants. 2005. https://earthjustice.org/case/air-toxics-mercury-power-plants.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Lives On The Line: Mercury Standard & Power Plants |date=14 July 2005 |url=https://earthjustice.org/case/air-toxics-mercury-power-plants |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2005lives, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Lives On The Line: Mercury Standard \& Power Plants}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2005}, month = jul, url = {https://earthjustice.org/case/air-toxics-mercury-power-plants}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }