U.S. APPEALS COURT
STRIKES DOWN MAJOR AIR POLLUTION REGULATION IN DECISION THAT
WILL PUNISH N.Y.’S ADIRONDACK & CATSKILL PARKS
Adirondack Council Calls on EPA & Congress to Take Quick
Action to Protect
Natural Resources & Human Health from Midwest Smokestacks
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-432-1770 (ofc)
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-456-4512 (home)
Released: Friday, July 11, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The US
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia today struck down
a crucial component of the federal government’s rules that
were designed to curb the Midwestern air pollution that damages
Northeastern forests and lakes and causes lung disease.
“By striking down the Clean
Air Interstate Rule, the US Court of Appeals has left all of
the Northeastern states vulnerable to acid rain and fine particles
of smoke that damage people’s lungs,” said Scott Lorey,
Director of Government Relations for the Adirondack Council,
a national leader in the fight against acid rain. “CAIR
was our only hope that significant reductions would be made over
the next decade in the Midwestern smokestack pollution that has
killed our forests and fish, tainted our drinking water and poisoned
our food and wildlife with mercury. Now the rule is gone –
struck from the books. We need quick action from the US Environmental
Protection Agency to reissue the rule. Failing that, Congress
must act right away to pass a bill that would require similar,
or deeper, cuts in smokestack pollution.
“CAIR was the single most
effective environmental rule issued by the Bush Administration,”
said Lorey. “The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 weren’t
enough to stop acid rain in the worst-hit places in the nation.
We aren’t alone in our plight. The entire East Coast is
suffering. It’s time for the ecological damage and unhealthy
air days to stop.”
New York’s 9,300-square-mile
Adirondack Park is the largest American park outside of Alaska.
It is larger than Massachusetts. The Adirondack Park has suffered
worse damage from acid rain than any other region of the United
States. More than 700 lakes and ponds have become too acidic
to support their native aquatic wildlife. Heritage strains of
brook trout have gone extinct. Thousands of acres of high-elevation
forests have been killed. Mercury pollution from the same coal-fired
power plant smokestacks is poisoning fish, birds and mammals.
The Catskill Mountains, Hudson Highlands, Long Island’s
eastern Pine Barrens and the Finger Lakes are also suffering
long-term damage from acid rain. Acid rain damages East Coast
ecosystems from the Florida Everglades to the forests of Maine.
CAIR was created by EPA to require
cuts of 70 percent in sulfur dioxide and 60 percent in nitrogen
oxides from electric power plants ranging from Maine to Texas.
About half of the cuts would have been made by 2009, while the
remainder would have been made by 2015.
The court’s decision came
after a legal challenge to technical aspects of the rule by two
power companies, Minnesota Power Corp. and Entergy.
Lorey said the remedies available
are:
- EPA could review the decision
and adjust the rules to comply with the court’s objections.
- EPA could appeal the decision,
which would take longer than a rule revision.
- Congress could pass a law similar
to, or more aggressive than, the CAIR.
- Congress could pass legislation
such as that proposed by US Rep. John McHugh, R-Jefferson County,
which would require cuts slightly deeper and faster than CAIR,
and also require deep cuts in mercury and carbon dioxide. Several
other similar bills have been proposed as well.
“Any of those options would
be better than allowing acid rain and smog to continue unabated
across the nation,” Lorey concluded.
Lorey noted that New York’s
environmental standards are much tougher than federal rules,
so New York power plants won’t get a reprieve from in-state
air pollution standards from today’s decision. However,
a significant portion of the acid rain falling in the Adirondacks
and Catskills comes from the Midwest, not New York.
The Adirondack Council is a privately
funded, not-for-profit environmental research, education and
advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring the ecological integrity
and wild character of the Adirondack Park.
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