by Ben Jealous
The big corporations, utilities, and Wall Street millionaires who profit off fossil-fueled power plants have had us in a chokehold for years. Now, the grip is finally loosening.
- Advertisement -
For too long, a small few have dictated where we get our power from, how much we pay on our energy bills, and even what is in the air we breathe. They have done this with little regulation or consequence. Their pollution fuels the climate crisis, driving the extreme storms and out-of-control floods and droughts that devastate communities and economies. If you are unlucky enough to be in a fence line community near a coal or gas plant, you know the human toll firsthand. The rates of asthma, heart disease, and cancer are higher because of the toxic pollution these plants dump into your air and water. This is the price we pay because these corporate polluters have put their bottom line above our well-being.
The tragic legacy of coal and gas power plant pollution is finally being broken. It is thanks to historic and decisive action from the Biden administration with a suite of four rules just finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency. Though the rules sound basic in their nature, they are game changers.
First, President Joe Biden just implemented important restrictions on wastewater from coal plants—one of the largest sources of toxic pollution in our waterways. Second, he closed loopholes so that coal plant operators can’t dump toxic coal ash wherever and whenever they want without any safeguards. Third, he strengthened protections that curb pollution like heavy metals, mercury, and other hazardous air toxics from being emitted without limits from power plants, safeguarding some of the most vulnerable individuals from some of the most dangerous types of air pollution. Finally, for the first time ever, the president is implementing carbon pollution standards for existing coal-fired power plants and new gas-fired power plants—two of the most significant sources of the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.
This is a clear sign that the Biden administration is listening to overwhelming public demand to ensure every person, regardless of where they live, has access to clean air, safe water, and a stable climate. It is a sea change in defining who is prioritized in decisions about pollution in our air and water. Now, the needs of those who feel the impact of pollution are finally being put before corporate polluters and the politicians who’ve stood idly by.
The Biden administration’s actions are critical to reducing harmful pollution and holding corporate polluters accountable. And they move us closer to transitioning to a 100 percent clean energy economy—the essential next step to prevent the worst damage of the climate crisis. At a time when clean, renewable energy is more affordable than gas and coal all over the country, these safeguards will further incentivize a transition to these energy sources. That will save lives, lower costs, and create new jobs. It is an investment that all at once helps the economy, protects public health, and drives innovation.
Dirty fossil fuels that threaten communities with dangerous pollution are on their way out. The public, the government, and even some utility companies agree that our future will be built on reliable, affordable, and clean power. The time has come to change a status quo that has resulted in a public health disaster, a worsened climate crisis, and a small group of wealthy interests gaining too much influence over our future.
As with all change, this latest action did happen on its own. We made it happen. While many politicians were quiet for years, the public was not. People across the country built a movement that has pushed back against fossil fuel pollution and corporate polluter influence from every conceivable angle. In the courts, in Congress, in state houses, on utility commissions, and, yes, in the streets, that movement worked tirelessly to protect the health of our families. They fought for our clean air and water, and our collective future free from pollution and the climate crisis. These new safeguards are the culmination of decades of advocacy that has never been in the spotlight but has always moved us closer to this day.
Ben Jealous is the executive director of the Sierra Club.
