Coal plants emitted more pollution during the last government shutdown, while regulators were furloughed

By: Ruohao Zhang, Penn State; Huan Li, North Carolina A&T State University, and Neha Khanna, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: October 23, 2025

Words: 1,259

Last Updated: 1 month ago

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By Ruohao Zhang, Penn State; Huan Li, North Carolina A&T State University, and Neha Khanna, Binghamton University, State University of New York

When the U.S. government shut down in late 2018, it furloughed nearly 600 Environmental Protection Agency pollution inspectors for more than a month. Those workers had to stop their work of monitoring and inspecting industrial sites for pollution, and stopped enforcing environmental-protection laws, including the Clean Air Act.

My colleagues and I analyzed …

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