New Sierra Club Dashboard Calculates Florida Toll of Trump EPA Rollbacks

ORLANDO, Fla. - Today, the Sierra Club unveiled a new toolthat shows the public health and environmental toll of the Trump Administration's planned rollbacks of the Environmental Protection Agency's safeguards against coal pollution in Florida.

The Trump Coal Pollution Dashboardprovides data on how much pollution would be reduced by five of the EPA's major guardrails currently under threat by the Trump administration: the Good Neighbor Plan, Regional Haze standards, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, Effluent Limitation Guidelines, and Greenhouse Gas standards. These safeguards are in place to curb emissions of nitrogen oxides, mercury, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, wastewater pollution, and other toxic chemicals from coal plants.

In Florida, six coal plants operated by five utilities could escape pollution reductions according to the Trump Coal Pollution Dashboard. Those plants are listed followed by the applicable rule(s):

• Jacksonville Electric Authority'sNorthside Generating Station Units 1 and 2; Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG), Regional Haze, and Greenhouse Gas Standards (111d).
• Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc'sSeminole 2 Generating Station; all four rules except the Good Neighbor Plan.
• Gainesville Regional Utilities's Deerhaven Generating Station 2; Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) and Greenhouse Gas Standards (111d).
• Duke Energy Florida'sCrystal River Energy Complex ST4 and 5; Regional Haze and Greenhouse Gas Standards (111d).
• Tampa Electric'sBig Bend Power Plant ST4; Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) and Greenhouse Gas Standards (111d).
• Tampa Electric'sPolk Power Plant Unit 1CA; Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG).

A total of over 45,000 people live within three miles of these six plants, with roughly one fifth of those residents being low-income and/or BIPOC. Upending the five EPA guardrails would allow for a 44 percent increase in the plants' collective CO2 emissions and 84 percent increase in their wastewater pollution.

Four of the five coal-plant owning utilities, Jacksonville Electric Authority, Seminole Electric Coop, Duke Energy Florida, and Tampa Electric, received failing grades in Sierra Club's 2024 Dirty Truth Report. All three scored a ten out of 100 or lower for continued reliance on coal and other fossil fuels for power.

In response, Sierra Club issued the following statements:

"Without the EPA rules, Floridians will face increased air and water pollution that poses irrevocable harm to our health and ecosystems," said Susannah Randolph, Sierra Club Florida Chapter Director."JEA, Seminole, GRU, Duke, and TECO cannot be allowed a free pass to pollute our state and profit from our poor health, worsening climate, and sky-high energy bills. We commit ourselves to fighting for utility accountability and championing an equitable clean energy transition, clean air, and clean water for all Florida communities."

"The Trump Coal Pollution Dashboard demonstrates clearly that with every executive order, Donald Trump is recklessly releasing tons and tons of toxic, deadly chemicals into our air. These EPA safeguards were put in place to shield our communities from toxins that poison children, cause more asthma attacks, more heart attacks, and more premature deaths," said Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Director Laurie Williams. "The American people should be outraged that in the first few months of his presidency, Donald Trump has so callously attacked these lifesaving standards and given Big Coal a free pass to make Americans sicker with no consequence. The Sierra Club will continue to fight these dangerous rollbacks and defend our people from more deadly pollution."

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 www.sierraclub.org.