Reuters / Kacper Pempel
The Trump administration is planning to significantly weaken the government rules that control emissions of mercury—a toxic substance that belches from coal-burning power plants—The New York Times reports. The proposal wouldn’t get rid of mercury regulations entirely, but would reportedly allow Trump’s government to weaken it and potentially allow a total scrapping of the rules at in the future. The proposal is being spearheaded by Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who is now the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The weakening of the mercury rule would be a major victory for the coal industry as it’s considered the most costly regulation to implement. Mercury is known to damage the nervous systems of children and fetuses.