Untitled Document
What’s New
This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider an important clean air enforcement case. In 1999, EPA sued Duke Energy for rebuilding nine of its aging coal-fired power plants without installing modern pollution controls on the plants. Old, dirty power plants are by far the nation’s largest source of industrial air pollution. On November 1, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case. Read the Washington Post editorial. Read the editorial in the Washington Post.
How You Can Help
Ask your senators to support the Clean Power Act, a bill sponsored by Senators James Jeffords (Vt.), Susan Collins (Maine), and Joe Lieberman (Conn.) that would comprehensively clean up the nation’s power plants. Power plants are by far the largest source of air pollution in the country.
Summary
Power plants are threatening our health and environment.
More than half of all Americans live in areas that fail to meet the national health standards for ozone smog or fine particle “soot.” At least 45 states have fish consumption advisories due to mercury contamination. And global warming poses an increasing threat—from sea level rise along the Eastern seaboard to more intense storms in the Gulf to droughts in the West.
Power plants are the nation’s largest industrial source of the pollutants that cause these problems.
Yet, the Bush administration’s industry-backed “Clear Skies” bill (S.131) repeals or substantially weakens Clean Air Act programs that require individual power plants to clean up. In place of these programs, the bill establishes pollution caps that take effect many years in the future and are set at levels that fail to protect public health.
With the bill stalled in the Senate, the Bush administration has moved to implement these policies through administrative action. In 2003, the Bush administration gutted key provisions of the Clean Air Act known as New Source Review that require power plants to install modern pollution controls when they make physical or operational changes that increase emissions. On March 17, a federal court struck down the rule.
The Bush administration also issued new rules in March 2005 that give power plants until 2018 or later to reduce their mercury emissions—and even then require only modest reductions. U.S. PIRG, 15 states, and other groups have challenged the rules in court as well.
Fact sheets
Basic Facts on the ‘Clear Skies’ Bill (PDF)
Background on Mercury and Power Plants
Basic Facts on the Bush Administration’s Mercury Rules
Comparison of the Bush Air Pollution Bill with Current Law (PDF)
Milestones in EPA Mercury Rulemaking
Available, Affordable Solutions: Reducing Power Plant Mercury Emissions (PDF)
News releases
New Carper Bill Allows Power Plant Owners to Avoid Global Warming Reductions 5/3/06
Court Strikes Down Major Bush Air Pollution Rule 3/17/06
New Report Finds One-Third of All Americans Threatened by Soot Pollution 1/19/06
Bush Air Pollution Bill Would Increase Pollution, Harm Public Health 10/27/05
House Energy Bill Would Lead to 70,000 Deaths from Power Plant Pollution 10/6/05
Senate Bid to Reject Bush Mercury Rule Narrowly Fails 9/13/05
Data Show American Electric Power Is Nation’s Worst Mercury Polluter 9/8/05
Court Declines Immediate Freeze of EPA Mercury Rule 8/5/05
Resolution to Disapprove EPA Mercury Rule Introduced in Senate 6/29/05
Federal Court Issues Decision Largely Rejecting Clean Air Rollbacks 6/24/05
U.S. PIRG Files Two Lawsuits Challenging EPA Mercury Rules 5/18/05
Loophole in 'Clear Skies' Bill Lets Nearly 40 Percent of Nation's Power Plant Units Escape Mercury Reductions 4/6/05
Public Health Prevails in First-Ever Vote on ‘Clear Skies’ Bill 3/9/05
Reports
Plagued by Pollution: Unsafe Levels of Soot Pollution in 2004, January 2006
Made in the U.S.A.: Power Plants and Mercury Pollution Across the Country September 2005
The Fine Print: How a Loophole in the ‘Clear Skies’ Bill Lets Power Plants Off the Hook for Their Mercury Emissions April 2005
Pollution on the Rise: Local Trends in Power Plant Pollution January 2005
Lethal Legacy: A Comprehensive Look At America's Dirtiest Power Plants October 2003
Mercury Links
Government analyses of EPA’s proposed and final mercury rules:
Congressional Research Service, Mercury Emissions from Electric Power Plants: An Analysis of EPA’s Cap-and-Trade Regulations April 15, 2005 (PDF)
Government Accountability Office, Clean Air Act: Observations on EPA’s Cost-Benefit Analysis of Its Mercury Control Options February 2005 (PDF)
U.S. EPA, Office of Inspector General, Additional Analyses of Mercury Emissions Needed Before EPA Finalizes Rules for Coal-Fired Electric Utilities February 3, 2005
Mercury reports and fact sheets:
Biodiversity Research Institute, Mercury Connections 2005 (PDF)
National Wildlife Federation, Getting the Job Done: Affordable Mercury Control at Coal-Burning Power Plants October 2004 (PDF)
National Wildlife Federation, Controlling Mercury from Power Plants: Current State of Technology November 2003 (PDF)
Other links:
U.S. EPA Fish Advisories Website
