Trump is Giving Corporate Polluters Another Blank Check to Pollute While Pennsylvanians Pay the Price With Their Health

Pennsylvania – After taking the most pro-pollution action in modern history when he repealed the endangerment finding, Trump is going even further by allowing coal and gas plants to pump unlimited carbon pollution into our air. With this rollback, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is handing a favor to corporate polluters while Pennsylvanians pay the price with higher medical bills and more trips to the hospital. 

Trump’s actions to gut pollution protections — rubberstamped by Republicans in Congress — are making Pennsylvanians sicker at the same time they have increased health care costs and paved the way for massive profits for their oil and gas donors. On top of that, his effort to prop up dirty, expensive coal power could raise energy costs at a time when Pennsylvania families are already struggling to keep the lights on. 

Former Senior Advisor to the EPA Administrator Zealan Hoover issued the following statement: “By eliminating the power plant pollution standards, Trump is choosing to allow preventable asthma attacks, heart disease, and even deaths. With more coal and gas being burned to power data centers, the impacts of this rollback will hit particularly hard in states like Pennsylvania where developers are racing to take advantage of this pro-polluter EPA. Instead of ‘Making America Healthy Again,’ Trump is telling the biggest fossil fuel companies that they can make Americans sicker just to add to their bottom lines.” 

Trump and Republicans in Congress have increased pollution and hurt public health across Pennsylvania:

• Trump’s EPA repealed the endangerment finding, which obligated the federal government to protect communities from harmful air pollution that can cause life-threatening illnesses, including asthma and lung cancer.
  • As of 2026, nearly 2.2 million Pennsylvanians were particularly vulnerable to air pollution due to age and at-risk health conditions.
• Trump’s EPA weakened limits on toxic “forever chemicals” (PFAS) pollution, allowing more dangerous pollutants into the air and water. PFAS have been linked to a range of health problems, including cancer.
  • In 2024, testing showed 30 Pennsylvania schools with on-site wells had PFAS levels above EPA standards, and recent testing revealed that four schools in Southeastern Pennsylvania had PFAS levels above the commonwealth’s drinking water standard. 
• Trump’s EPA gave nearly 70power plants two-year exemptions from requirements to reduce the release of toxic chemicals like mercury, arsenic, and benzene.
  • Keystone-Conemaugh Project’s Keystone Station in Shelocta, which received an exemption, is responsible for 68 excess deaths, 20 heart attacks, and over 3,492 lost workdays each year.

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