Polluters can now email their way out of clean air laws, courtesy of Trump

A statement by Earthjustice criticizing the Trump administration and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for granting pollution waivers to coal-fired power plants and considering similar exemptions for other industries via a simplified email process, which the author claims distorts the Clean Air Act.

• The Trump administration has granted two-year exemptions from the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards to 68 coal-fired power plants, allowing for increased emissions of acid, arsenic, and mercury without scientific review or public input.
• EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is considering granting exemptions to bypass clean air rules for eight additional polluting industries, specifically targeting laws that limit emissions of benzene, chloroprene, and ethylene oxide.
• The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) have requested blanket exemptions for over 200 chemical manufacturing facilities using the administration's email-based request process.
• Earthjustice asserts that the administration is misusing Section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, which was intended only for extraordinary circumstances involving national security and unavailable pollution control technology, to instead provide giveaways to metal smelters, chemical manufacturers, and coal-fired power plants.
• Chemical facilities targeted for exemptions by the ACC and AFPM emit over 6,000 tons of toxic chemicals annually, affecting more than seven million people who face increased cancer risks.

APA

Greene, T. (2025). Polluters can now email their way out of clean air laws, courtesy of Trump. Earthjustice. https://earthjustice.org/experts/james-pew/polluters-can-now-email-their-way-out-of-clean-air-laws-courtesy-of-trump

Chicago

Greene, Tylar. Polluters can now email their way out of clean air laws, courtesy of Trump. Earthjustice, 2025. https://earthjustice.org/experts/james-pew/polluters-can-now-email-their-way-out-of-clean-air-laws-courtesy-of-trump.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Greene |first1=Tylar |title=Polluters can now email their way out of clean air laws, courtesy of Trump |publisher=Earthjustice |date=2 May 2025 |url=https://earthjustice.org/experts/james-pew/polluters-can-now-email-their-way-out-of-clean-air-laws-courtesy-of-trump |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{greene2025polluters, author = {Greene, Tylar}, title = {{Polluters can now email their way out of clean air laws, courtesy of Trump}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://earthjustice.org/experts/james-pew/polluters-can-now-email-their-way-out-of-clean-air-laws-courtesy-of-trump}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }