Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG’s environmental work.
Sweetheart Deal For Polluters Defeated In Committee
WASHINGTON,
DC—The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today cast the
first ever vote on the Bush administration’s “Clear Skies” bill
(S.131), rejecting the measure on a 9-9 tie.
“This is a stunning victory for public health,” said U.S. PIRG Clean
Air Advocate Emily Figdor. “It’s great news for the American people,
and bad news for the polluting energy companies who were looking
forward to this sweetheart deal. We commend the nine senators who
worked to defeat this disastrous bill.”
Today’s
vote comes after months of delay as Committee Chairman James Inhofe
(R-OK) attempted to increase support for the bill. In the end, the bill
was defeated due to criticism from committee members over provisions
that would have repealed and weakened the Clean Air Act. Senators
Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) and James Jeffords (I-VT) joined all seven
Democrats in voting against the bill. Additional opposition in the
Republican ranks grew as well, as Senator John Warner (R-VA) submitted
an amendment to strip out measures that weaken clean air protections
for national parks.
The
bill would delay until well after 2018 reductions in power plant sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions called for in the Clean Air Act by
the end of this decade; repeal the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review
program, which requires the oldest and dirtiest plants to eventually
meet modern pollution standards; force residents of heavily-polluted
areas to wait longer for clean air than under current law; repeal
protections that require every power plant to reduce mercury to the
maximum extent (about 90 percent) by 2008; and allow oil refineries,
chemical plants, and many other industries to “opt in” to the bill and
opt out of major portions of the Clean Air Act, including existing EPA
rules that require steep reductions in their emissions of dozens of
pollutants that cause cancer, birth defects, and other serious health
problems.
“Power
plants and other industrial polluters are major contributors to the
public health problems across the country” said Figdor. “These
pollutants contribute to asthma attacks, heart and lung disease,
learning disabilities, and even death. The last thing we needed is a
sweetheart deal for polluters.”
