Trump EPA Says Its Coal Plan May Cause 1,400 More Deaths Each Year, but Backs It Anyway

The Trump administration’s plan for regulating coal plants acknowledges that its reduced standards on emissions could lead to as many as 1,400 additional premature deaths each year, The New York Times reports. The Affordable Clean Energy Rule, proposed Tuesday, would replace the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which was an aggressive attempt to reduce carbon emissions and shutter coal power plants and was predicted to avoid 1,500 to 3,600 premature deaths annually by 2030. But President Trump reportedly criticized that plan for placing too many restrictions on coal companies; his proposal would relax many Obama-era standards—and, according to the Times, includes fine print that states it is projected to increase premature deaths by 470 to 1,400 annually by 2030, by increasing the concentration of pollutants known as PM 2.5, which are linked to asthma, bronchitis, and heart and lung disease. “Today’s proposal provides the states and regulated community the certainty they need to continue environmental progress while fulfilling President Trump’s goal of energy dominance,” said Andrew Wheeler, the acting director of the EPA in a Tuesday statement.