2026年2月20日 上午11:05 UTC / 路透社
作者：瓦莱丽·沃尔科维奇
[1/2] 美国犹他州亨廷顿的亨廷顿燃煤电厂冒出烟雾，2024年10月28日。路透社/吉姆·厄奎哈特/文件照片/文件照片
- 摘要
- EPA计划削弱2024年设定的汞排放和空气污染物限制标准
- 环保组织警告，这一规则倒退将使婴儿面临汞含量升高的风险
- EPA表示，规则倒退将降低公用事业公司的成本，释放更多基荷电力
华盛顿，2月20日（路透社） – 特朗普政府周五在肯塔基州宣布一项活动，称将放宽对电厂的空气排放法规，以限制汞和有害空气污染物，称此举将增加基荷电力供应，但公共卫生组织表示，这将损害美国最弱势群体的健康。
唐纳德·特朗普总统领导的EPA称，放宽燃煤电厂的污染标准将减轻运营老旧燃煤电厂的公用事业公司的成本，而目前因人工智能数据中心扩张导致电力需求激增。
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但环保组织表示，削弱汞（一种会损害婴儿大脑发育的神经毒素）和其他空气污染物的排放标准将导致更高的健康相关成本。
拜登政府时期更新的《汞和有害空气污染物标准》（MATS）在最高法院拒绝应主要由共和党领导的州和行业团体提出的暂停该规则的法律挑战后，仍在生效。该规则将减少燃煤电厂70%的汞污染允许排放量，减少三分之二的镍、砷、铅和其他有毒金属排放量，并在2037年前节省4.2亿美元的健康成本，据环保组织数据显示。
EPA在周三的声明中称，2012年的MATS规则已经为保护公众健康提供了“充足的安全余量”，而其提议的2024年补充规则的成本将超过收益。
公用事业公司一直在逐步淘汰老旧的燃煤发电机组，而这些是汞和碳排放的主要来源，但特朗普承诺降低壁垒，以满足人工智能和数据中心不断增长的电力需求。
他去年宣布进入“能源紧急状态”，以证明继续保留本应关闭的老旧燃煤电厂的合理性，并豁免这些电厂的关键空气法规。
去年春天，他发布了一项公告，邀请燃煤电厂通过电子邮件申请豁免两年MATS法规，作为其能源紧急状态计划的一部分，共有68家电厂获得豁免。
上周，EPA宣布废除“危害认定”，该认定赋予该机构监管温室气体排放的权力，而白宫则指示五角大楼从燃煤电厂采购军事用电。
燃煤电厂是危险空气污染物（包括汞、铅、砷和酸性气体）的最大排放源之一，也是苯、甲醛、二恶英和其他有机有害空气污染物的主要来源。
根据美国能源信息署（EIA）的数据，燃煤电厂仅占美国电力供应的不到20%。
瓦莱丽·沃尔科维奇报道；奥罗拉·埃利斯编辑
我们的标准：路透社信托原则
Trump EPA to weaken rule limiting harmful mercury, air toxics from coal plants
February 20, 2026 11:05 AM UTC / Reuters
By Valerie Volcovici
节点运行失败
Item 1 of 2 Fumes rise from the coal-fired Huntington Power Plant in Huntington, Utah, U.S., October 28, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo/File Photo
[1/2]Fumes rise from the coal-fired Huntington Power Plant in Huntington, Utah, U.S., October 28, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
- Summary
- EPA plans to weaken limits for mercury emissions, air toxics set in 2024
- Environmental groups warn rollback puts babies at risk from elevated mercury levels
- EPA says rollback will reduce costs for utilities, free up more baseload power
WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – The Trump administration announced on Friday it will roll back air regulations for power plants limiting mercury and hazardous air toxics at an event in Kentucky, a move it says will boost baseload energy but that public health groups say will harm public health for America’s most vulnerable groups.
President Donald Trump’s EPA has said that easing the pollution standards for coal plants would alleviate costs for utilities that run older coal plants at a time when demand for power is soaring amid the expansion of data centers used for artificial intelligence.
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But environmental groups have said that weakening standards for mercury, a neurotoxin that can impair babies’ brain development, and other air toxics will lead to higher health-related costs.
The Biden-era Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, which updated standards set in 2012 under the Obama administration, had still been in force after the Supreme Court declined to put the rules on hold after a group of mostly Republican states and industry groups led a legal challenge to suspend it.
That rule would reduce allowable mercury pollution from the coal plants by 70%, emissions of nickel, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals from coal plants by two-thirds and result in health cost savings of $420 million through 2037, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
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The EPA said in a statement on Wednesday that the 2012 MATS rule provides “an ample margin of safety to protect public health,” and that its proposed 2024 additions would cost more than they benefit.
Utilities had been phasing out aging coal-fired generators, which are major sources of mercury and carbon emissions, but Trump has promised to reduce barriers to meet rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.
He declared an “energy emergency” last year to justify moves to keep open aging coal plants that have been set for closure and exempt aging coal plants from key air regulations.
Last spring, he issued a proclamation inviting coal plants to request by email to be exempt from MATS regulations for two years as part of his administration’s energy emergency. Sixty-eight plants were granted exemptions.
Last week, the EPA announced it was repealing the “endangerment finding,” which gave the agency the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and the White House directed the Pentagon to purchase power from coal plants for military use.
Coal-burning power plants are among the largest sources of hazardous air pollution, including mercury, lead, arsenic, and acid gases, as well as major sources of benzene, formaldehyde, dioxins and other organic hazardous air pollutants.
Coal plants generate less than 20% of U.S. electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Aurora Ellis
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