Trump is making coal plants even dirtier as AI demands more energy

2 hours ago 20

Justine Calma

is a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host of Hell or High Water: When Disaster Hits Home, a podcast from Vox Media and Audible Originals.

The Trump administration just tossed out Biden-era restrictions on mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants. It’s repealing Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) just as electricity demand in the US ticks up with the buildout of new AI data centers.

Those standards are particularly impactful when it comes to pollution from coal plants responsible for around half of mercury emissions in the US. Mercury is a neurotoxin; high exposure has been linked to birth defects and learning disabilities in children. Exposure can also impact the kidneys and nervous system.

Trump’s deregulation spree aims to make it easier to quickly construct new data centers and fossil fuel infrastructure to power them

And yet the Trump administration is making power generation dirtier as the nation’s electricity needs grow with more data centers, domestic manufacturing, and electric vehicles. President Donald Trump’s deregulation spree aims to make it easier to quickly construct new data centers and fossil fuel infrastructure to power them — including coal plants.

“The Trump administration is wiping out health protections critical for protecting children from toxins like mercury just to save the coal industry some money,” Nicholas Morales, an attorney with nonprofit environmental law group Earthjustice, said in a press release today.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its repeal of Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that the Biden administration strengthened in 2024. The Trump administration is rolling the standards back to where they were in 2012 when the Obama administration initially instituted them. Weakening the regulations is supposed to save $78 million each year starting in 2028, according to an EPA fact sheet.

Earlier this month, Trump accepted the Washington Coal Club’s inaugural “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful, Clean Coal” award. Power generation from coal has fallen sharply in the US as gas-fired power plants and renewables like solar and wind became more cost competitive. But since his second term in office, Trump has ordered at least eight coal plants slated to retire to stay online.

Tech companies trying to scale up energy-hungry AI data centers are also extending the lifespans of aging power plants. Last week, the Tennessee Valley Authority — the largest public utility in the US — decided to keep two coal plant open instead of retiring them, citing growing power demand from data centers.

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.