Washington - Since President Trump took office in January, his Environmental Protection Agency Both cut and rethink Dozens of rules aimed at combating pollution. White House Shooting too Many EPA staff implement the remaining rules.

This week, CBS News visited a neighborhood near Houston, near which is the NRG Energy Coal-fired Power Plant, the largest in Texas.

When CBS News Visited the same community In December, Mr. Trump was just elected for his second term, promising the energy industry that he would back down on environmental regulations, Protect air quality.

Dr. Winston Liaw, chair of the Department of Health Systems and Population Health Sciences at the University of Houston, told CBS News.

LIAW treats patients at higher risk of lung disease, asthma and heart attacks caused by emissions from refineries, chemical plants and coal-fired power plants in the Houston area.

He explains how Houston’s air affects human health.

"There are these tiny particles, they're so small that they bypass many of our defenses," Liaw said. "Then they start to hurt all kinds of tissues in our bodies."

A 2018 study by Rice University found that pollution at NRG plants causes 177 early deaths each year.

In April, the Trump administration gave 68 factories — including NRG plants in Rice Research — a two-year exemption that meets federal regulations aimed at reducing mercury emissions, a powerful toxin that could affect the brain.

CBS News analyzed the Trump administration’s waivers and found that nearly 65% ​​of these factories are within three miles of low-income ethnic minority communities.

“The most important thing is that he is at greater risk for the poor.” Ben Jealousy, executive director of the Sierra Club, is an environmental advocacy group that works hard to close nearly two-thirds of the country’s coal-fired power plants.

Jealousy says: “When you start increasing production at coal-fired power plants, you will kill more people and cause more heart attacks and cause more asthma attacks.”

"Its coal units comply with the current Mercury Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and will comply with any future MATS requirements," NRG Energy said in a statement provided to CBS News.

In another statement, the Trump administration said that the Biden-era coal-fired power plant regulations “stacked heavy regulations on long-standing mercury and air poisoning standards, increasing the risk of coal-fired plants shut down, which would eliminate thousands of jobs, limit our power grids, and make our national security vulnerable to the national security of the United States.”

Jealousy believes that coal is not a more reliable energy source for renewable energy.

"The argument that coal makes your more reliable energy invalid," says Jealousy. "Solar, wind, and batteries provide you with the most reliable and resilient grid."

More importantly, for people in Houston and across the country, renewable energy means less pollution, he said.