Supreme Court Rules Against Limits On Toxic Mercury Pollution

The Supreme Court just handed a huge victory to some of America's biggest polluters—ruling against the first-ever limits on toxic mercury pollution from coal plants.¹
It's one of the biggest public health setbacks we've faced in years—but this fight is far from over.
The Environmental Protection Agency is already getting ready to push forward with revisions that address the Supreme Court's concerns. It's up to us to mobilize strong public support to make sure polluters can't create further weakening or delay these critical rules.
Unbelievably, the Supreme Court claimed that the EPA failed to show that the mercury limits were "necessary and appropriate"—even though they would prevent 11,000 annual deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, 130,000 asthma attacks, and up to $90 billion in health-care costs.²
What could be more "necessary and appropriate" than that?
But the coal industry will spend virtually any amount of money on lawyers and lobbyists to block limits on their mercury pollution—and President Obama doesn't have much time left to get these rules in place.
Make no mistake: People could die because of the Supreme Court decision. We can't back down now.

1. Supreme Court Blocks Obama's Limits on Power Plants, The New York Times, June 29, 2015

2. Healthier Americans, United States Environmental Protection Agency, accessed June 29, 2015