The EPA has been quietly going about establishing the rules that should have been established years ago, but were blocked by the marinated in oil Bush/Cheney administration. The latest proposed rule regulates mercury emissions from coal fired power plants. The Clean Air Act of 1990 required that the EPA establish standards for power plant emissions, so this is only 21 years late.

Mercury from power plants tends to end up in our rivers and our fish. It is especially toxic to women and wildlife where it causes brain damage and can impact reproduction. About 50% of the mercury emitted in the US comes from power plants. There are some pretty big power plants in Texas, which probably explains whey Bush was so against regulating them. Some good ole boy thing.

This is going to cost the industry $10-billion to retrofit power plants with scrubbers that take out at least 90% of the toxic heavy metal from emissions. No wonder the industry lobbyists are trying to convince congress to defund the EPA. If they do their job, industry’s costs go up. In this case, the price of electricity is also expected to increase by $3 to $4 each month to pay for the increased production costs. James Inhofe (R-OK) is already claiming that this will force 20% of power plants to go out of business. Personally, I doubt that claim. Power plants will comply and pass the costs along to the consumer. And we’ll all breathe better.

Inhofe is also whining about this causing a loss of jobs. I’m scratching my head over that one. A bunch of power plants are going to invest in new equipment that must be manufactured and installed by somebody, or don’t those jobs count?

Homework

Story About Proposed Rule From Texas Newspaper

Same Story from Washington Post

Union of Concerned Scientists Story About Bush Blocking Regulations

EPA's Website About Clean Air Act

Years ago I travelled to Houston on business, and was surprised at how polluted the air was, especially after living in Denver for years and being painfully aware of that city’s “Brown Cloud.” Flying into and out of Salt Lake City over many years also highlighted for me how temperature inversions can impact air quality. There were days in winter when one could not see the beautiful mountains of Utah from the airport because the air simply was not clear enough. And then there was the year I lived in Mexico, and saw the same inability to see the mountains from the city because the air was so dense. Remember when China banned automobiles during their Olympics?

Houston, we’ve got a problem. I started with a mention of Houston because at the time of my visit, during the Bush administration, it was the most polluted city in America. Evidently Los Angeles and Houston regularly exchange top billing. According to NASA, which is studying Houston’s pollution, the causes are a large and increasing population, heavy automobile usage and multiple chemical industry and power plants.

President Bush exempted power plants from EPA pollution standards, and then went about trying to dismantle the EPA—something our US Representative Scott Tipton and our Colorado Representative Ray Scott have also vowed to accomplish. The problem is that in 2008 a federal court ruled that Bush was violating the law. Earlier the Supreme Court ordered the EPA to regulate greenhouse gasses.

Yesterday Robert Waxman (D-CA) released a 2008 letter from the EPA to President Bush explaining that there was no question about the science of climate change, and that to ignore it was a security threat to our nation. The author of that letter has been testifying in committee hearings led by a Republican legislator who is determined to allow the oil and gas industry to have its way with our environment and our health. We need to make sure that the truth is told, and that we start protecting our environment or this planet will become uninhabitable.

Homework:

Bloomberg Article Re: Bush vs. EPA

NASA Story About Houston's Air Pollution

2008 Story About Court Ruling Bush in Violation of Law

Air Pollution in China

Air Pollution in Mexico City (and other world cities)