The Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering the reasoning behind its rule that limits air pollutants from coal and oil-fired power plants. An expert says that could lead to the standards’ undoing and more coal pollution in Indiana.
The agency wants to overturn a finding that says the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) is “appropriate and necessary” — the legal basis for the rule.
Janet McCabe, who now works for Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute, helped develop the rule under the Obama Administration. She says this could set the rule up for a legal challenge and change the way the EPA writes regulations — because several of them consider side benefits.
"If you quit smoking and your primary desire is to reduce your chances of getting lung cancer, you will also benefit from quitting smoking in many other ways that affect your health positively, right?" McCabe gives as an example.
"You'll reduce chance of stroke, you'll be able to exercise more and that’s healthy. Your breath will smell better, there are all of these other things that are kind of co-benefits."
