Trump Sells Out Georgia’s Public Health to Costly Coal

ATLANTA -Today, the Trump administration announced its "Coal Day 2.0" agenda, which includes opening 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal mining leasesand extending compliance deadlines and rolling backsafeguards against air and water pollution.

In the last two decades, coal mining in the U.S. has steadily declineddue to innovations of renewable energy sources, and public opposition to coal due to the myriad of negative impacts coal production has on public health and the environment.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration delayed complianceof health protections for coal miners, and cut free black lung screenings for miners. The Trump administration has also begun rolling back a numberof safeguardsthat limit toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants.

In Georgia, Plants Bowen and Scherer in Georgia have been given sweeping freedom from the Trump Administration and Georgia Power to stay online years past previously set retirement dates, ignore common-sense safeguards that curb emissions of mercury and air toxins, and delay cleaning up toxic coal ash landfills.

In response, the Sierra Club issued the following statements:

"Georgia already suffers from some of the highest energy bills in the nation. Propping up these outdated coal plants will do nothing but make those bills even higher and add more pollution to our air and water. Georgia Power cannot be allowed to tie our future to the coal industry of the past. We must fight for affordable, clean energy for all of Georgia," said Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Director Adrien Webber.

"The Trump administration's reckless actions announced today will hurt the American people, all to prop up the aging and outdated coal industry," said Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender. "Coal power is now not only the dirtiest form of electricity, it is one of the most expensive, contributing to the rising cost of Americans' energy bills.

"Donald Trump's plan doesn't just saddle us with higher bills, he wants to lease millions of acres of public lands to mining companies and further slash protections for our clean air and water. Rather than investing in clean, affordable energy to power our country, more coal will increase deadly air pollution, poison our water with harmful heavy metals, and drastically worsen the health of our loved ones.

"If this dangerous agenda continues to advance, years from now we will look around at failing health outcomes, skyrocketing bills, and a decaying environment, and there will be one man to blame: Donald Trump and his Republican enablers. But we will not stand by as this administration takes a wrecking ball to the progress we have made, we will continue to defend our health, our environment, and our futures," Bender concluded.

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.