For parents and health administrators who thought that 2011 had ended in a victory for clean air, 2012 is yielding a new surprise from an elected representative who is determined to put a stranglehold on the Environmental Protection Agency.
It took more than two decades to nail down a ruling that would limit emissions of the neurotoxin mercury and other airborne chemicals that emanate from coal-fired power plants. Yet Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has stepped up to the plate -- once again -- in an effort to rescind the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) announced on Dec. 21, 2011.
How does Inhofe plan to do it? He introduced a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). If a majority votes with him, the health benefits of MATS would not just be obliterated, any potential for the EPA to create new standards with the same goals would effectively be cut off. Americans would lose the benefits of a reduction of the mercury and acid gas pollution that emanates from the power plants burning oil and coal.
The EPA has put out stats stating that beginning in 2016, the MATS regulations will annually prevent:
• 130,000 asthma attacks
• Approximately 5,000 heart attacks
• Up to 11,000 premature deaths
• 5,700 emergency room and hospital visits
• 540,000 lost days of school and work
Inhofe and his supporters continue to cling to the "jobs vs. clear air" argument. However, the EPA has repeatedly refuted this claim, pointing to the almost 10,000 temporary construction jobs that would be created, in addition to 8,000 permanent utility jobs. An analysis from the Economic Policy Institute has formulated that "by balancing benefits to health against costs of compliance -- the toxics rule is a clear win for Americans."
Currently, one in 10 American women of child-bearing age has enough mercury in her blood stream to create risks to an unborn child. This is one of the reasons that more than 15 organizations signed on to a March 19, 2012 letter to senators asserting that Inhofe's resolution "elevates the demands of polluters above the health and well being or our children." It urged a public refutation of "any efforts to block, weaken or delay these vital public health protections." At the top of the list of signers was the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Inhofe has established a unique niche in the environmental space by being the sole senator to oppose the Everglades restoration, and for his quote calling the EPA a "Gestapo bureaucracy." In an editorial, the New York Times described him as "one of the most persistent critics of the clean air laws."
I reached out to Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, for his thoughts on Inhofe's move to bring down the EPA's landmark legislation. He responded by email with the following comment:
"After decades of delay, last December, the Environmental Protection Agency finally acted to require dirty coal and oil-fired power plants to clean up their mercury and deadly air toxic emissions. By targeting our nation's largest sources of mercury, this regulation requires polluters to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent -- which will reduce the mercury that contaminates our streams and fish and end up in our children. This long overdue public health measure will help ensure our nation's utilities are doing their very best to keep our air clean -- allowing many people in this country to live better, healthier and, in some cases, longer lives. At the same time, the EPA has provided a reasonable and achievable schedule for our dirtiest power plants to reduce these harmful emissions. The agency has even allowed extra time if needed for the industry and states to address any possible local reliability concerns. Most communities will see great benefits from these rules -- in fact nationally we will see up to $90 billion in public health benefits. Modernizing our coal fleet is also expected to be a net job creator not a job killer. As someone who has tried for years to work across the aisle to find a way to clean up our nation's power plants, I was encouraged to see the EPA finally act to address these harmful emissions. I will be strongly opposing any efforts to prevent the EPA from moving forward with efforts to reduce these deadly emissions."
It's now up to the voters to let their senators know that want to breathe unpolluted air.
This article was written for Moms Clean Air Force.
TELL YOUR SENATORS TO OPPOSE JIM INHOFE'S RADICAL CAMPAIGN
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• 130,000 asthma attacks
• Approximately 5,000 heart attacks
• Up to 11,000 premature deaths
• 5,700 emergency room and hospital visits
• 540,000 lost days of school and work"
These numbers might be correct if we lived in an American bubble! We don't!
http://discovermagazine.com/2011/apr/18-made-in-china-our-toxic-imported-air-pollution
Over 2/3's of our mercury pollution today comes from Asia and it is increasing at a rate of about 8-10%. If the EPA closed every coal burning facility in the U.S. the gains in pollution reduction would be wiped out in 5 years!
The EPA needs to be more realistic! We as a nation need to be more realistic. We can be perfect and because of imported pollution our children will continue to die!
The 2005 ruling significantly cleaned up our power plant industry. Deaths from suicide are a much bigger problem now. Focus on jobs and be skeptical of the liberal EPI study.
"NASA Satellite Confirms Sharp Decline in Pollution from U.S. Coal Power Plants"
"The scientists, led by an Environment Canada researcher, have shown that sulfur dioxide levels in the vicinity of major coal power plants have fallen by nearly half since 2005."
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/coal-pollution.html
Suicide: 36,909
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm
Another caveat to this, relates directly to "peak oil " as most of the easy to get cheap oil in subsurface wells are in a state of decline as demand for more production is going up to meet global energy demands. The problem is that even in regards to how many alternative technologies which have been currently examined, in production & on the R & D board will never meet the math requirement when the exponential number of everything we use to meet our daily modern lifestyle has been reliant on the cheap easy to get stuff.
Simply look what the big oil industry is already doing to meet current & projected energy demands.
The Green River formation in CO, UT, WY, is not even oil in the liquid stage, but is essentially "carbon rock" not fully cooked & pressed to become liquid for another 100 million years when it will become the oil we have been drilling for.
This desperation is causing them to pull out all the stops to keep the machine culture of empire still operating with as little bumps as possible politically and that means sacrificing the health of Americans using coal to meet energy demand.
The fix is in.
The machine culture of empire. I love that. Industrial civilization. Hyper efficiency on a scale beyond which nature can replenish itself. A friend put it nicely: Efficiency is good up to a point. But when we become efficiency beyond human or natural scale, we have the kind of suicidal system that we do.
WE NEED A CLEAN SWEEP AT THE EPA.
The EPA needs more help and more strength because, asthma population rates are skyrocketing. No one wants this hideous, quality of life consuming disease.
"NASA Satellite Confirms Sharp Decline in Pollution from U.S. Coal Power Plants"
"The scientists, led by an Environment Canada researcher, have shown that sulfur dioxide levels in the vicinity of major coal power plants have fallen by nearly half since 2005."
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/coal-pollution.html
"The report finds that over 13,000 deaths each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. power plants. This is almost half the impact that our 2004 study found."
http://www.catf.us/fossil/problems/power_plants/existing/
http://discovermagazine.com/2011/apr/18-made-in-china-our-toxic-imported-air-pollution
What is so illuminating, is that all of these regs were passed on a bipartisan agreement among both parties including Pres. Nixon who signed several of them as being necessary & proper to protect the health & welfare of both human societies & the ecosystems upon which all life depends.
Quite frankly it's time to start going after these people by filing Civil Tort actions, both in their personal capacity as human beings,,& their professional capacity acting as elected representatives, where this kind of behavior is negligent, reckless, & has clear implications which directly jeopardize public health, & must be held liable.
Start with environmental tariffs!
So much of our pollution now comes from Asia! Over 2/3's of our mercury pollution as a start!