Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) sponsored an amendment to S. Con. Res. 8, the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Resolution, which sought to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards by making it easier for power plants to win an exemption from the requirements. When implemented, these clean air safeguards will save tens of thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks. While the Coats amendment purports to simply ensure that power plants have the necessary time to meet the standards, it would undermine public health protections. The EPA and the states already have the authority to grant additional time for power plants to install pollution control equipment and the EPA has made clear that more time is also available in order to maintain electric grid reliability. On March 22, the Senate rejected the Coats amendment by a vote of 46-53 (Senate roll call vote 72). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.