Air Pollution: A perspective on the Apalache Case

Air pollution is defined by the World Health Organization as the contamination of both indoor and outdoor environments by chemical, physical, or biological agents that alter the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. This issue constitutes a major global problem, as the organization reports that 99% of the world’s population is exposed to air containing high levels of pollutants, generating significant and long-term impacts on public health and the climate.

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates that, since 1970, air pollution has continued to harm human health and the environment. Despite regulatory progress and policy interventions, air quality still exceeds national standards for at least one of the six common pollutants, demonstrating the persistence and complexity of this issue at the national level.

As a consequence of this problem, the Appalachian region has experienced significant impacts from increasing air pollution. This region is considered a critical case due to its strong dependence on coal mining, particularly activities such as mountaintop removal, which generate high levels of particulate matter and other pollutants (Knuckles et al., 2013). Furthermore, Appalachia faces notable environmental and social vulnerabilities, including economic marginalization, limited access to healthcare, and elevated health risks, which intensify the adverse effects of air pollution on local communities.

Within this context, environmental policies during the administration of Donald Trump adopted a deregulatory approach, prioritizing economic recovery, energy independence, and fossil fuel expansion over strict environmental regulations. Under the Clean Air Act from EPA, key measures, such as the Clean Power Plan and regulations on methane, mercury emissions, and vehicle efficiency, were weakened or revoked. This shift raises the following question: How did Trump-era environmental policies influence air pollution in the Appalachian region?

Photo illustration by Claire O'Neill/The New York Times.

The second administration of Donald Trump is defined by an energy dominance agenda focused on strong support for fossil fuels and the systematic dismantling of previous climate policies. Under a markedly ideological approach, the government declared a “national energy emergency,” granting itself extraordinary powers to accelerate hydrocarbon projects and bypass environmental impact assessments. This political context was reinforced by Republican control of both chambers of Congress and a judicial environment favorable to deregulation, which facilitated the rapid implementation of these measures (Urbasos y Briones, 2025).

At the international level, Trump ordered the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This decision, formalized under the order “putting America first in International Environmental Agreements,” revoked the commitment to contribute $4 billion to the Green Climate Fund, weakening global trust and shifting climate leadership toward China and the European Union. As a result, the United States reduced its role in global climate governance and multilateral environmental cooperation (Urbasos y Briones, 2025).

Domestically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) experienced a significant reduction in its role. Its mission was redefined to prioritize lowering energy costs for businesses and consumers rather than environmental protection. The plan included major budget cuts, the closure of environmental justice offices, and the elimination of the “social cost of carbon,” a key tool used to justify stricter environmental regulations (Urbasos y Briones, 2025). These changes significantly weakened the institutional capacity to monitor and control environmental risks .

In addition, coal promotion became a strategic priority, particularly in regions historically dependent on this industry, such as the Appalachian Mountains. Measures aimed at revitalizing the sector included the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which had imposed limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants. Although these actions sought to reduce regulatory costs and increase competitiveness, the decline of coal was largely driven by market factors, including the expansion of natural gas and renewable energy (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2026).

These policies directly affected air quality regulation in the Appalachian region by weakening federal oversight of coal-fired power plant emissions. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (2023), such plants are major sources of toxic pollutants, including mercury and heavy metals. The Environmental Protection Agency reversed its determination that regulating these emissions was “appropriate and necessary,” reducing enforcement and increasing pollution risks for nearby communities.

The Appalachian region has long been shaped by its dependence on coal mining, which has influenced both its economic development and its environmental conditions. In many areas, mining has been a major source of employment for decades, but it has also led to persistent air pollution problems.

Coal Industry Flattened the Mountains of Appalachia - The New York Times

Research shows that living in coal mining areas is associated with higher health risks. Hendryx (2009) found that counties with mining activity have higher mortality rates from heart, respiratory, and kidney diseases compared to non-mining counties. In addition, there are significant social inequalities in the region. Krometis et al. (2017) highlight that Appalachian communities face structural challenges such as poverty and limited access to healthcare, which make the effects of pollution even more severe. Overall, this makes the region particularly vulnerable to air pollution.

During Donald Trump’s administration, energy policies focused on reducing environmental regulations and supporting fossil fuel industries, especially coal. According to Harrison (2025), this approach was part of a broader strategy that prioritized economic growth and energy security.

In practice, this meant weakening certain emission controls and reducing the role of environmental regulation. Although the coal industry had already been declining due to market changes, these policies aimed to sustain its activity. Sivin (2025) argues that these decisions had negative consequences for both public health and the environment, as they increased the risk of exposure to pollutants, particularly in communities located near mines and coal-fired power plants.

In this case, the relationship between public policy and air quality is quite direct. When environmental regulations are reduced, extractive activities face fewer restrictions. This allows pollution levels to remain high or even increase in areas where mining is already intensive. In simple terms, a clear chain can be observed: less regulation leads to greater or sustained mining activity, which in turn negatively affects air quality. Although Lin (2022) points out that there are institutional mechanisms that can limit drastic policy changes, these were not strong enough to fully counter the effects of deregulation during this period.

The data show that air pollution in Appalachia was already a serious problem before the Trump administration and did not clearly improve during that period. Hendryx (2009) found that coal mining areas have higher mortality rates from heart, respiratory, and kidney diseases, showing long-term health impacts. In the same way, Hendryx and Holland (2016) explain that even with regulations like the Clean Air Act, these communities still had worse health outcomes, which means the problem was already structural.

At the national level, there had been clear progress before Trump. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2023) reports that sulfur dioxide (SO₂), a pollutant from coal, decreased by 94% between 1980 and 2022. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which affects the lungs, also decreased by around 41% since 2000. This shows that environmental regulations were working.

However, during the Trump administration, this progress slowed down, especially in vulnerable regions like Appalachia. Krometis et al. (2017) show that environmental and health inequalities continued, particularly in areas with more mining. In addition, Desikan et al. (2023) explain that some government decisions reduced the use of scientific evidence, making it harder to properly control pollution.

Based on the findings, it can be concluded that there is a direct link between new public policies and air quality, as reduced regulation facilitates the pursuit of extractive activities with fewer restrictions in place, thereby maintaining or even increasing levels of air pollution. Whilst, on the one hand, the intended economic benefits were hampered by global market trends, the environmental and health costs fell directly on the population of the Appalachians, exacerbating the social and health inequalities already present in the region.

The impact of these policies on local communities in the Appalachian region was significant, especially in terms of health and quality of life. The relaxation of environmental regulations during Donald Trump's second administration allowed activities such as coal mining and the operation of thermoelectric plants to continue with fewer restrictions, which increased the population's exposure to dangerous pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), mercury and other heavy metals.

These communities, which were already facing conditions of structural vulnerability such as poverty and limited access to health services, experienced a worsening of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, the lack of presence of the Environmental Protection Agency weakened the monitoring and control mechanisms, reducing the protection of local populations against environmental risks.

References:

Desikan, A., MacKinney, T., Kalman, C., Carter, J. M., Reed, G., & Goldman, G. T. (2023). An equity and environmental justice assessment of anti-science actions during the Trump administration. Journal of Public Health Policy, 44(1), 147. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9896454/pdf/41271_2022_Article_390.pdf

Harrison, C. (2025). Trump and the US energy transition. The Geographical Journal, 191(4), e70009. https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/geoj.70009

Hendryx, M. (2009). Mortality from heart, respiratory, and kidney disease in coal mining areas of Appalachia. International archives of occupational and environmental health, 82(2), 243-249. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00420-008-0328-y

 Hendryx, M., & Holland, B. (2016). Unintended consequences of the Clean Air Act: Mortality rates in Appalachian coal mining communities. Environmental Science & Policy, 63, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2016.04.021

Knuckles, T. L., Stapleton, P. A., Minarchick, V. C., Esch, L., McCawley, M., Hendryx, M., & Nurkiewicz, T. R. (2013). Air pollution particulate matter collected from an Appalachian mountaintop mining site induces microvascular dysfunction. Microcirculation, 20(2), 158–169. https://doi.org/10.1111/micc.12014

Krometis, L. A., Gohlke, J., Kolivras, K., Satterwhite, E., Marmagas, S. W., & Marr, L. C. (2017). Environmental health disparities in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. Reviews on Environmental Health, 32(3), 253–266. https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2017-0012

Lin, A. C. (2022). Climate policy buffers. Yale J. on Reg., 39, 699. https://escholarship.org/content/qt6ht3713g/qt6ht3713g.pdf

Sivin, D. D. (2025). Trump: a disaster for health, safety, and environment. New solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 34(4), 248-252.  http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5713162

Urbasos, I., & Briones, A. (2025, may 19) Primeros 100 días de Trump en energía y clima. Real Instituto Elcano. https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/analisis/los-primeros-100-dias-de-trump-en-energia-y-clima/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2023). Progresse report: Air quality in the United States. https://www.epa.gov/power-sector/progress-report-air-quality

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