JEFFERSON CITY, MO - Today, Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency dismantled a bedrock environmental and public health standard that protects Americans from mercury and dangerous toxic air pollutants, such as arsenic, lead, and chromium. Rolling back the new and more protective Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) will allow coal- and oil-burning power plants to emit more damaging pollution that puts the public at greater risk of heart and lung disease, developmental delays and learning disabilities, cancer, and even premature death.

Ameren Missouri's Labadie coal plant is one of the largest plants in the country, and one of the largest polluters in several categories due to its complete lack of modern air pollution controls, including for mercury. As part of its ongoing fish consumption guidelines to protect human health, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Servicesnotes that, "Human activities such as mining and burning of fossil fuels may account for one-third to two-thirds of the mercury released in the environment."

According to the Sierra Club's Trump Coal Pollution Dashboard, reversing the 2024 improvements and reverting to the 2012 standards will allow the dirtiest coal-burning power plants to emit 50 percent more mercury pollution. In May 2025, the Trump administration exempted68 power plants-including some of the biggest polluters in the nation-from MATS after soliciting exemption requests from big polluters over email.

The Sierra Club suedthe administration for these unlawful exemptions.

In response, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Strategist Jenn DeRose released the following statement:

"Labadie is the largest coal plant in Missouri, and also the only coal plant in the entire state that would have been required to comply with the updated mercury reduction rule, showing how woefully out of date Labadie is compared to others. Ameren CEO Marty Lyons has a moral and civic obligation to do more than the bare minimum. Missourians love fishing and care about clean air and water, and Ameren's Labadie coal plant will continue to endanger both until Marty Lyons decides his utility shouldn't spew mercury and other toxic pollution everywhere."

In response, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Director Laurie Williams issued the following statement:

"Donald Trump's senseless decision to repeal the mercury standards is a direct attack on the health of Americans. For years, these lifesaving protections have slashed the amount of toxic pollution coal plants dump in our air and water, keeping millions of Americans safe from heart attacks, asthma and premature deaths, and protecting our babies from permanent neurological damage. Now, the president that promised to make Americans healthy again is deliberately weakening those safeguards, and families will suffer preventable illnesses simply because he wants to give the coal industry another handout.

"Americans deserve public health standards that are designed to protect people, not pad the profits of a polluting industry that can't compete with cheaper, reliable, renewable energy. But Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin have made their choice: help their buddies in the coal industry cut corners rather than prioritize the health and safety of our communities. The Sierra Club will fight this decision with everything we have to defend our communities from this dangerous and deadly rollback."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.