The Politics of Pollution | Green Energy News

August 24, 2003 – Vol.8 No.22

THE POLITICS OF POLLUTION.

Like a one-two punch, the Bush Administration, through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, almost guaranteed dirtier air for large portions of the U.S. and again stalled action on global warming.

First, the EPA finalized its ruling on New Source Review (NSR). Under the new guidelines, if operators of a power plant, refinery, or industrial facility - up to 17,000 estimated in the U.S. - can prove that the cost of upgrades or overhauls is less than 20 percent of the value of the facility as a whole the operator does not have to add new, latest technology, pollution control equipment.

Critics of the final ruling claim that facility operators can entirely rebuild plants over a period of years - essentially build a new plant over, say over 5 years - and never add new pollution control equipment.

Supporters of the ruling claim that operators can now focus on making the facilities more efficient, bringing down costs of the end product - electricity or gasoline for example.

Those most impacted by the final ruling are those downwind of some of the nation’s dirtiest power plants - the Northeast states. Some of those states have already stated they will sue the EPA over the ruling.

Politically (from this very political administration) there is little risk from the ruling for the upcoming election. If the 2000 election is any guideline, those most impacted states are unlikely to vote for President Bush anyway.

In the second blow the EPA decided that carbon dioxide was not a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, thus would not take steps to regulate it. The EPA said that the Act does not authorize regulation to address climate change, thus carbon dioxide, considered a main factor, would not be regulated.

However, the Clean Air Act does say that a substance can be regulated if it comes from cars, contributes to air pollution (and importantly) may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. Thus again, those working for action on global warming must find a way to reasonably prove that global warming is dangerous to humans. A difficult task in a complex situation. Visit New Source Review(NSR) http://www.epa.gov/nsr, the Clean Air Act http://www.epa.gov/oar/caa/contents.html