Could the Climate Bill Undermine Existing Air Rules?

Photo by davipt, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davipt/164341428/">via Flickr</a>.


Health groups are raising concerns about a provision buried in the 987-page American Power Act unveiled yesterday that they believe might undermine existing clean-air standards.

On page 182 of the bill from Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is directed to “establish a task force” that would examine “existing programs” at the state and local level to curb pollutants from power plants. The task force would look at “the effect the programs may have on the pace and extent of the transition of the existing coal-fueled power plants to significantly lower greenhouse gas emitting technologies or the retirement of existing coal-fueled power plants in the fleet.”

The task force is also given the authority to review federal regulations “currently under development for control of power plant air pollutants other than greenhouse gases.” Clean air groups believe that is probably targeted at rules currently under consideration for mercury, smog, and soot emissions.

The task force would also look at the impact “exemptions” from existing rules might have on power plants – with an eye toward maintaining the “reliability of electric service.” The task force includes representatives of the EPA – but also a number of agencies, groups, and businesses that might not have public health as their primary focus: the Department of Energy, the Department of the Treasury, state public utility commissions, and the electricity generating sector.

Clean Air Watch president Frank O’Donnell argues that the provision may indicate that “public health safeguards should be weakened to aid in the ‘transition’ to lower-carbon future energy sources.” In including the provision, O’Donnell says, the authors were “obviously aided by ghost writers from the electric power industry.”

The American Lung Association yesterday said it was “shocked” by this particular provision. The provision, said CEO Charles D. Connor, “would unleash a dangerous process to attack life-saving rules on coal-fired power plants and threaten to permit much more air pollution around the nation.” The group wants the language stripped from the bill.

Kerry yesterday downplayed the concerns about the provision, but acknowledged to ClimateWire that it’s “one of the things we’ve still got to kind of shape up a little bit.”

Public health advocates will surely be on top of it. “The outrageous proposal creates an open door through which millions of tons of life-threatening pollution could be allowed to flow,” said Connor.

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate