MONTPELIER — The U.S. Senate has voted to back an Environmental Protection Agency rule that Sen. Bernard Sanders said will protect Vermonters and others in downwind states by controlling mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Wednesday’s vote supporting the rule came after Sanders spoke in favor of it, saying it would generate jobs for workers involved in retrofitting the power plants.

Sanders said benefits also include reducing mercury emissions. He cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as saying mercury can cause children to have brain damage, mental retardation, blindness, seizures, and the inability to speak.

He also points to the high incidence of asthma among Vermont children as a reason to try to curb pollution.