Missing from partisan political debates over regulations affecting the energy sector is the stunning success of the federal government’s signature environmental laws.
Missing from partisan political debates over regulations affecting the energy sector is the stunning success of the federal government’s signature environmental laws. A prime example: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rules aimed at reducing the harmful effects of hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS.
A new study from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) shows that in the decade since the standard was promulgated, the amount of mercury spewing into the atmosphere from U.S. power plants – and eventually into the ground, water, and food web – decreased by 90 percent. Mercury is a potent neurotoxicant and exposures have also been associated with increased risks of fatal heart attacks in adults.
The new paper analyzes sociodemographic disparities in mercury exposures from U.S. power plants and residual risks remaining for the most highly exposed populations. The research is published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
Read more at: Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science
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