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The Trump administration has blocked the implementation of tougher wastewater treatment standards for coal-fired power plants in Wyoming and across the nation, a move that saves operators money. But critics warn that these and other efforts to boost the coal industry are bad for business and public health.

Thom Cmar, deputy managing attorney for Earthjustice, said the Environmental Protection Agency’s new standardsrequire operators to invest in technologies that reduce the release of toxins such as arsenic, lead and mercury into waterways.

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"The health benefits of fewer incidences of cancer, cardiovascular disease, less exposure to children of harmful levels of lead," he said, "those benefits far exceed the costs to the industry."

The new standards would cut more than 600 million pounds of wastewater pollution each year, according to the EPA’s own projections. The agency has claimed delaying those standards is necessary to address electric grid reliability, rising demand and affordability. The EPA’s actions are in sync with campaign promises made by President Donald Trump to revive the coal industry, remove environmental protections and abandon efforts to transition to clean-energy sources such as wind and solar.

The EPA also announced that it will no longer calculate the monetary benefits of improving health and saving lives when considering air and water protections. That move violates a U.S. Supreme Court instruction that the government cannot stack the deck to benefit polluters, according to consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

Cmar said keeping coal-fired power plants online will not lead to lower energy bills.

"Unfortunately, this administration has chosen to give this handout to industry," he said, "instead of taking a forward-looking approach to ‘where can we get our power in cleaner and less expensive ways?’"

Protecting the nation’s air and water is critical for a functioning economy, according to a Coalition for Sensible Safeguards report, in part because healthy workers are more productive. Air pollution reductions under the Clean Air Act have led to higher workforce participation and increased lifetime earnings. According to EPA data, these protections prevent more than 100,000 deaths and millions of lost workdays each year. The agency also found that the economic benefits exceed the costs by a factor of 30.