Evangelical Environmental Network: Rollbacks On Mercury, Toxic Emissions Limits From Power Plants Threatens The Health And Lives Of Our Children

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a final announcement repealing life-saving protections on mercury, heavy metals, and other hazardous pollutants emitted from coal-fired power plants. 

The pollution safeguards provided under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard have successfully protected children across the United States from mercury-related developmental delays and other health harms. 

Now, the EPA’s recent ruling threatens to reverse these crucial gains.

In response, Evangelical Environmental Network President and CEO Dr. Rev. Jessica Moerman released the following statement:

“We are deeply dismayed by the EPA’s recent decision to rescind critical protections against mercury pollution. 

“Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that poses a direct threat to human health, especially to unborn babies, pregnant women, young children, and frontline communities who are overburdened by pollution. 

“Safeguarding the air we breathe, the water we drink, and food we eat from neurotoxins like mercury is not merely a policy issue; it is a moral imperative rooted in our biblical mandate to care for “the least of these,” including our children–both born and unborn–and to be good stewards of God’s creation.

“We are grateful for President Trump’s strong defense of the sanctity of human life that affirms the dignity of every unborn child and appreciate his commitment to advancing policies that protect life at its earliest stages.

“However, the EPA’s rescission of mercury protections stands in stark contrast to that same commitment to life and human flourishing. 

“When safeguards that protect children’s neurological development and the health of vulnerable families are weakened, the most defenseless among us pay the price. 

“Clean air, pure water, and healthful food are essential conditions for life, and we urge the Administration and Congress to reaffirm protections that shield our children from toxic pollution.

“We call on the EPA to reconsider its course and to restore robust mercury pollution standards that uphold the sanctity of human life."

The Evangelical Environmental Network is a ministry whose mission is to inspire, equip, educate, and mobilize evangelical Christians to love God and others by rediscovering and reclaiming the Biblical mandate to care for creation and working toward a stable climate and a healthy, pollution-free world.

[Posted: February 24, 2026]  PA Environment Digest