The Dictatorship
Trump administration relaxes limits on pollutants that coal plants may emit
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday weakened limits on mercury and other toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants, the Trump administration’s latest effort to boost the fossil fuel industry by paring back clean air and water rules.
Toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired plants can harm the brain development of young children and contribute to heart attacks and other problems in adults. The plants are also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. The EPA announced the repeal of the tightened Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule, or MATS, at a massive coal plant next to the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky.
“EPA’s actions today rights the wrongs of the last administration’s rule and will return the industry to the highly effective original MATS standards that helped pave the way for American energy dominance,” said EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi. The agency said the change should save hundreds of millions of dollars.
The final rule reverts the industry to standards first established in 2012 by the Obama administration that have reduced mercury emissions by nearly 90%. The Biden administration had sought to tighten those standards even further after the first Trump administration had moved to undermine them.
Operators of the Mill Creek Generating Station gave agency officials a tour of the coal plant before hosting the announcement inside.
Coal-fired power plants are the largest single human source of mercury pollutants. Power plants release the mercury into the atmosphere, which then falls in rain or simply by gravity, entering the food chain through fish and other items that people consume.
Environmental groups said the tightened rules have saved lives and made communities that live near coal-fired power plants healthier. But industry groups argued that the tougher standards, along with other rules that limited emissions from coal plants, made operating them too expensive.
They accused the Biden administration of piling on so many requirements that it would drive a rush of plant retirements.
“For too long, the entire coal supply chain has been the target of bad and onerous environmental regulations,” said Michelle Bloodworth, CEO of America’s Power, a coal industry group. “Repealing the 2024 MATS rule and today’s actions are an important step for maintaining a reliable and affordable supply of electricity and ensuring that coal-based generation can continue supporting the nation’s economy and the electric grid.”
The coal industry’s outlook has changed dramatically in the last year.
The Gibson Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant, operates April 10, 2025, in Princeton, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)
The Gibson Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant, operates April 10, 2025, in Princeton, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)
In March, the EPA promoted the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” announcing their intention to peel back dozens of environmental protections. The Biden administration’s focus on climate change was over — EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the actions marked “the death of the ‘green new scam.’” Fossil fuel rules were big targets, including major efforts to reduce carbon emissions from coal plants and mandate greenhouse gas reporting. The Trump administration has also extended deadlines for dozens of coal-fired power plants to comply with certain Clean Air Act rules.
Beyond fewer environmental protections, the Trump administration has issued emergency orders halting the planned shutdown of several coal plants. Officials say the plants produce consistent power during major storms or at other times when need is high. Removing coal would reduce the grid’s reliability, especially at time when a rush of new data centers is demanding more than ever from the grid, they say. Officials have dismissed concerns about higher customer costs from keeping coal plants operating, their plentiful emissions and their significant contribution to climate change.
And earlier this month, the EPA revoked a finding that climate change is a threat to public healthwhich has long been the basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Recently, President Donald Trump hosted a group of coal miners who honored him as the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful, Clean Coal.”
Activists say favoring coal makes little sense at a time when renewables are cleaner, cheaper and reliable.
Gina McCarthy, who headed the EPA under former President Barack Obama, said the Trump administration will be remembered for helping the coal industry at the expense of public health.
“By weakening pollution limits and monitoring for brain-damaging mercury and other pollutants, they are actively spiking any attempt to make America – and our children – healthy,” said McCarthy, who is also the chair of the climate action group America Is All In.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed. Phillis reported from Washington.
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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.
As President Donald Trump weighs a second major military assault on Iran in less than a year, congressional Democrats are warning a president known for pushing the boundaries of his executive power against unilaterally waging war on the Middle Eastern country.
Rep. Debbie Wassermann Schultz, D-Fla., said Saturday that Trump “must consult with Congress” and make a clear case for why Iran poses an imminent threat to the United States that would warrant U.S. military action. She pointed to the fact that former President George W. Bush sought congressional authorization before he ordered the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“We have not seen anything about an imminent threat that would necessitate a significant strike like this,” Wasserman Schultz said on MS NOW’s “Alex Witt Reports.”
“So to think that this would be a walk in the park, the president is really not thinking this through carefully, and needs to consult with Congress,” she said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement on Friday that the Trump administration has not clarified its strategy or objectives — or solicited congressional approval — as it weighs launching a military campaign against Iran.
“Congress has the sole power to declare war,” Schumer said. “We must enforce the War Powers Act and compel this administration to consult with Congress and explain to the American people the objectives and exactly why he is risking more American lives.”
Trump acknowledged on Friday that he is considering limited military strikes to push Tehran into agreeing to end its nuclear enrichment.
“I guess I can say I am considering that,” Trump told reporters amid a massive buildup of U.S. military forces in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers and dozens of fighter jets, poised within striking distance of Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” on Friday that there is “no military solution for Iran’s nuclear program.” Trump on Thursday warned “bad things will happen” if Iran does not agree to a nuclear deal.
“The only solution is diplomacy,” Araghchi said. “This is why the U.S. is back at the table of negotiation and is seeking a deal. And we are prepared for that.”
Although he is unlikely to face much resistance from congressional Republicans, Democrats have cautioned against striking Iran. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned of wider implications.
“A preemptive attack against Iran at this time would be a strategic misstep, and I am concerned that such recklessness could spark an uncontrolled conflict,” Reed said in a statement.
The administration has “failed to engage with Congress during this latest military build-up,” he added. “It is easy to start a war; finishing one is much harder.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
President Donald Trump said Saturday he is raising global tariffs to 15% from the 10% import tax he imposed the day before in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down his sweeping tariffs.
“Based on a thorough, detailed, and complete review of the ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday, after MANY months of contemplation, by the United States Supreme Court, please let this statement serve to represent that I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been ‘ripping’ the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump had initially set the global tariffs at 10% in an executive order on Friday evening. Those tariffs, enacted under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, are in effect for 150 days unless Congress approves its extension.
On Saturday, he upped that figure to 15%. The sudden increase was met with immediate criticism from both sides of the aisle.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called it a “dumb” move. “He’s just making it up as he goes and Americans pay the price,” Schumer said on X.
“Trump’s commitment to pickpocketing the American people is relentless,” House Ways and Means Committee Democrats wrote on X. “A little over 24 hours after his tariffs were ruled illegal, he’s doing anything he can to make sure he can still jack up your costs.”
Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the right-leaning CATO Institute, wrote“Clearly, this is all a very legitimate and rigorous ‘balance of payments’ remedy under the statute here. Yet another reason why congress needs to reform the law.”
Trump has been seething over the Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the tariffs he imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Three conservative justices — Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts — sided with their liberal colleagues in the ruling, which The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial board called “a monumental vindication of the Constitution’s separation of powers.”
At a news conference on Friday, Trump said he was “ashamed of certain members of the court” and accused the justices of being “unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.” He claimed without providing evidence that the court was “swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think.”
He singled out Gorsuch and Barrett, two of his appointees to the high court, in a post on Truth Social later that day, saying that they “vote against the Republicans, and never against themselves, almost every single time, no matter how good a case we have.”
He then continued his streak into Saturday morning, lavishing praise on the conservative justices who disagreed with the majority decision.
“My new hero is United States Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and, of course, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito,” Trump wrote. “There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that they want to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The additional 5% increase on the tariffs he hastily imposed on Saturday could further shake global markets, which have been rattled by the president’s unpredictable tariff threats.
The Supreme Court ruling raised more uncertainty for consumerswho were left wondering whether they might be reimbursed for all the extra money they paid for goods and products over the past year.
While the court didn’t explicitly address reimbursement, Kavanaugh did in his dissent, saying, “Refunds of billions of dollars would have significant consequences for the U.S. Treasury. The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
Almost immediately after federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia on Friday appointed a veteran litigator as interim U.S. attorney, a position previously held by Lindsey HalliganDeputy Attorney General Todd Blanche shut it down.
James Hundley, a defense attorney with more than 35 years of experience, was unanimously appointed to serve as the top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia on Friday afternoon.
But shortly after Hundley’s appointment, Blanche sounded off on social media.
“Here we go again. EDVA judges do not pick our US Attorney. POTUS does,” Blanche wrote in a post on X.“James Hundley, you’re fired!”
The top prosecutor position in the powerful Virginia office has been vacant since Halligan — an insurance lawyer personally chosen by President Donald Trump to pursue criminal charges against his perceived political rivals in the role — stepped down last month, after she was chewed out by two federal judges over her unlawful appointment.
Federal judges can appoint a U.S. attorney if a nominee has not been confirmed within 120 days. Justice Department officials have maintained, however, that it should be up to Trump to make those appointments.
Hundley is not the first casualty of the administration’s assertion of authority over the appointment of interim federal prosecutors. Last week, the White House fired Donald Kinsella hours after he was sworn in as U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York.
“Judges don’t pick U.S. Attorneys, @POTUS does. See Article II of our Constitution. You are fired, Donald Kinsella,” Blanche wrote on X at the time.
In July, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Desiree Leigh Grace as U.S. attorney for New Jersey the same day she was appointed by federal judges. Grace was tapped to replace Alina Habba, who, like Halligan, is a personal ally of Trump.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
- Democrats warn Trump ‘must consult with Congress’ before striking Iran
- Trump hikes global tariff even higher — to 15% after Supreme Court ruling
- DOJ again swiftly fires a U.S. attorney chosen to replace Trump loyalist
- Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ is a grim joke
- Texas Republicans have a new campaign strategy — and a surprisingly retro boogeyman
- Trump administration relaxes limits on pollutants that coal plants may emit
- Trump Administration Restores Philadelphia Slavery Exhibition After Court Order
- Trump’s made tariffs central to his presidency. What’s next?
- Trump has other tariff options after Supreme Court strikes down his worldwide import taxes
- Saudi Arabia may enrich uranium under proposed US deal
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