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