Oh Well!! 10 Utility Companies Ask Shitstain's EPA To Cut Rules Governing Coal Ash Waste And NG Plant Emissions

[hatrack]

Environmental advocates in North Carolina are angry after 10 utilities and power companies, including Duke Energy, sent a letter Jan. 15 to Lee Zeldin, confirmed on Wednesday as EPA administrator, asking him to weaken environmental regulations over coal ash and natural gas. These regulations help protect air and water from toxic chemicals as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.

The Senate confirmed Zeldin on a largely party line, 56-42 vote, with three Democrats voting in favor. Zeldin has in recent years advocated unleashing fossil fuel production. Canary Media first reported the existence of the letter. The power companies alleged, without citing evidence, that stronger EPA rules for the fossil fuel industry, enacted under previous administrator Michael Regan, “individually and collectively threaten the reliability of the power grid, jeopardize national security, are a drag on economic growth, increase inflation and hinder the expansion of electric power generation to support the critical development and deployment of artificial intelligence and related technologies.”

A Duke Energy spokesman declined to comment, saying the letter summarizes the utility’s stance.

Coal ash contains several harmful chemicals, including arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead. Nationwide, chemicals from unlined ash ponds have leaked into the groundwater, which in some instances have contaminated private drinking water wells. Current EPA regulations have attempted to close some loopholes that allowed the contamination to continue unchecked.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31012025/duke-energy-asks-epa-to-roll-back-emission-regulations/