Progressive States, Feb 22, 2007
Straight to the Source
Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania sued
the Bush Administration this week claiming they failed to adequately
regulate emissions of mercury and other pollutants at older cement plant
kilns. Last December, the EPA
announced new limits on mercury and hydrocarbon emissions from cement kilns
built after December 2, 2005, but left weak rules in place for kilns from before
that date. The states argue that the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to limit
mercury from all kilns, not just new ones.
The EPA's mercury reduction plan as a whole is lacking. In addition to weak
regulations on cement kilns, the federal regulations concerning mercury
emissions from coal fired power plants also fall short of the mark. Critics
point out that newer emissions control technology could reduce mercury emissions
from coal fired power plants between 75 and 90 percent in just the next few
years. Trying to obscure this fact, the EPA distorted the analysis of its
mercury pollution regulation plan to make it appear that the Bush
administration's approach was superior to proposals supported by
environmentalists, according to an
analysis by the non-partisan General Accounting Office.
And again, it's been up to the states to take the lead and pick up the
federal government's slack:
Illinois Governor Blagojevich proposed
a plan to cut mercury emissions from power plants by 90 percent by 2009.
Governor Blagojevich's proposal also eliminates the emissions trading allowed
under the federal plan, forcing power plants to decrease emissions instead of
delaying reductions by buying cleaner credits. The proposal received
final approval last December.
Georgia has proposed
an across the board mercury capture of between 80-85 percent by 2010 and 90
percent by 2015. More than 15 percent of children born in Georgia have
dangerous levels of mercury in their blood, putting them at risk for
cerebral palsy, delayed neurological milestones, and lifelong learning
deficiencies.
Connecticut legislators surpassed the
EPA regulation even before the newest regulations came out. In 2003, CT passed
a bill requiring
a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions.
Wisconsin also passed a stricter emission limit
before the new EPA regulation, calling for an 80
percent reduction.
At least twenty-two
states in total have adopted more stringent regulations, accelerated
compliance deadlines, restricted interstate trading of mercury, or adopted more
than one of these approachs.
Twenty-two states disagree with the EPA's mercury reduction plan, a plan
that was adopted under the usual Bush adminstration M.O.: lack of transparency,
distortion of facts, and a final product that will never achieve the necessary
results.