The Associated Press reports that industrial critics won a delay on Friday when a federal court put on hold the controversial EPA regulations that are under challenge by more than a dozen electric power companies, municipal power plant operators.
Six states— Texas, Nebraska, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, and Ohio — had asked the court for the delay pending resolution of litigation challenging the new rules. All six would have had to reduce pollution from their power plants under the new EPA rules. They were joined by Ames, Iowa, local power plant operators and power generating companies, including Entergy Corp., Luminant Generation Co. and GenOn Energy.
In the first two years, the EPA estimates that the regulation and some other steps would have slashed sulfur dioxide emissions by 73 percent from 2005 levels, and nitrogen oxides will be cut by more than half.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution from power plant smokestacks can be carried long distances by the wind and weather. As they drift, the pollutants react with other substances in the atmosphere to form smog and soot, which have been linked to various illnesses, including asthma, and have prevented many down-wind states and cities from complying with health-based standards set by law.
Environmentalists on Friday said they would continue to defend the regulations, which are essential for some states to be able to meet air quality standards for soot and smog and are far more protective than the ones proposed under the Bush administration.
“The pollution reductions at stake are some of the single most important clean air protections for children, families and communities, across the eastern half of the United States,” said Vickie Patton, the general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund.
But Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a coalition of power companies, said in a statement Friday that the ruling was the “first step to setting it right.”
“The underlying rule was the subject of hasty process, poor technical support, unequal application and substantial threat to jobs, power bills and reliability,” he said.
A number of downwind states have joined to defend the EPA rule in court. Not among them is New Jersey where Governor Chris Christie is taking a different approach to out-of-state, power-plant air pollution. Christie's interstate air pollution decision is a puzzlement
Do you salute or decry the legal delay? Tell us why in the opinion box below. If one is not visible, click on the tiny 'comments' line to activate it.
Related:
EPA Acts On Power Plant Emissions
EPA Tells Coal-, Oil-Fired Plants to Clean Up Air Shut Down
Related:
EPA Acts On Power Plant Emissions
EPA Tells Coal-, Oil-Fired Plants to Clean Up Air Shut Down
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Time runs out on Delaware's offshore wind project
Philadelphia now recycling milk & juice containers, too
In NJ, a clash over control of environmental regulations
EPA report links fracking to groundwater contamination
Energy and environment bills in NJ Legislature on Dec 8
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These delays are decades in the making. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution are only part of the toxic brew dirty coal plant spew into the atmosphere, into our food, our bodies, and loved ones. Mercury makes up a huge part of the dangerous poisons emitted by dirty coal. According to the EPA, as many as one in six women may have levels of mercury in their bodies in excess of recommended amounts.
ReplyDeleteThere is no known safe-level for mercury exposure in humans. The one out of six scenario is easily one of the most frightening and unacceptable human health statistics you'll ever read about. It pertains to how many woman of child-bearing age are annually being exposed to harmful levels of toxic mercury that pose serious health and developmental risks to the unborn. The mercury passes from blood to fetus and can cause a host of seriosu long-term problems. Frankly, even 1 out of 1 million would still be too high, and every parent and American should be outraged that our state and federal lawmakers didn't act sooner to protect human life. It's past time we stopped letting the coal industry continue to poison millions of children. New Jersey has the fifth worst air pollution in the nation, so our residents and families are at even greater risk - no wonder we lead the nation in cancer. If you make one New Year's resolution this year that matters, tell your lawmakers to defend the EPA's long-overdue rules.
Matt Blake
Greenwich, NJ
Last I checked pollution doesnt know national borders. Why dont we spend some time trying to ratchet down on China which is spewing 10x more pollutants into "our" air, rather than putting even more pressure on domestic businesses? The EPA has been forcing a greater economic hardship and burden on US companies, which in turn end up shifting ever more manufacturing overseas because of it. And the pollution increases ........
ReplyDelete