Bush Energy Plan Could Increase Air Pollution

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http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-10-07.html

Bush Energy Plan Could Increase Air Pollution

By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, July 10, 2001 (ENS) - The Bush administration's energy plan

would boost levels of dangerous air pollutants at a time when respiratory

diseases such as asthma are at an all time high across the nation,

environmental and public health groups charge.

Though air quality has improved since this photo was taken in New Orleans in

1973, air pollution still leads to some 83 million reports of health

problems a year (Photo by Messina, courtesy EPA)

The number one loser under Bush's energy plan is " the American people, " said

Nemtzow, president of the Alliance to Save Energy. " By putting its

primary focus on increasing energy supplies by using more fossil fuels, the

Administration's energy plan would unnecessarily hurt our environment - the

air we breathe and perhaps our very climate. "

The Bush plan calls for increased reliance on fossil fuels, including oil,

coal and natural gas, and cuts the budget for energy efficiency research and

alternative power sources. Groups say the plan will lead to increased

emissions of smog causing nitrogen oxides and tiny soot particles that have

been linked to respiratory and heart ailments.

" It's important for people to examine the policy's fine print, because it

could lead to a rollback of clean air protections, " said O'Donnell,

executive director of the Clean Air Trust. " It could ultimately mean higher

polluting electric power plants and factories, and more toxic gasoline. "

The Clean Air Trust has learned that at least 25 states have already

experienced levels of pollution greater than the public health standards for

ozone, or smog, so far this year, said O'Donnell.

Bush's energy plan would call for as many as 1,300 new power plants (Two

photos by Carole Swinehart, courtesy Michigan Sea Extension)

" Literally tens of millions of people have been exposed to dirty air, " noted

O'Donnell. " This should be a warning that we need to consider the impact on

air quality of any new energy strategy. We should not retreat from a battle

not yet won. "

When President W. Bush unveiled his energy plan on May 16, it also

included a directive for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Administrator Christie Whitman to review the Clean Air Act's vital " New

Source Review " (NSR) provision. NSR requires companies, when expanding or

modifying their facilities, to either offset any pollution increases with

reductions in other sources at the same plant site or obtain a permit

demonstrating that best available pollution control technology has been

installed.

Power plants built between 1940 and 1970 emit four to ten times more

pollution than modern plants, according to EPA data. One example is coal

fired power plants that emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide

and mercury.

These pollutants have been found after repeated exposure to cause as much

damage to human lungs as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

Fossil fuel burning power plants spew millions of pounds of air pollutants

each year

High smog levels in the eastern United States cause 159,000 trips to the

emergency room, 53,000 hospital admissions, and six million asthma attacks

each summer.

This NSR provision of the Clean Air Act has been instrumental in regulating

refineries and power plants, which pump millions of tons of pollution into

communities. The EPA and several states have successfully sued a number of

large utilities for violations of the NSR provision, winning millions of

dollars in penalties and commitments to cutting millions of pounds of air

pollutants.

Because this enforcement tool has been so effective, electric power

companies, coal companies and major oil companies such as Exxon-Mobil have

sought to stop the enforcement, relax the rules, and pardon the polluting

power plants. The Bush administration has responded by ordering a review of

all enforcement actions under the NSR rule - included settled lawsuits.

On June 27, the EPA finished the first part of its review and issued a

background paper on the NSR, summarizing the data that they have found thus

far. The EPA is now soliciting comments on this paper as well as on other

information relevant to the NSR review, and will hold public hearings in

several U.S. cities.

Power plants burn mountains of coal each year

" It's not a choice between a polluting smoke stack and energy production -

we can have clean air and sufficient energy together, " said Carl Pope,

executive director of the Sierra Club. " President Bush's invitation to

weaken these pollution controls is an invitation to increase asthma and

other health problems triggered by power plant smog. "

The Sierra Club is mobilizing its members and running radio ads around

public hearings held by the EPA to discuss the clean air hazards of

President Bush's energy plan. Members will be commenting at Congressional

hearings to call on President Bush to uphold Clean Air Act pollution

safeguards on old power plants and refineries.

" If we increase efficiency, invest in renewable clean energy and increase

energy supply responsibly we'll have healthier children, a bright future,

and plenty of energy, " said Pope.

The Sierra Club will run radio ads around the hearings in Cincinnati, Ohio,

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Sacramento, California, and mobilize members in

those cities as well as in Boston, Massachusetts.