EPA Cracks Down On Pollution

The nation's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finally taking some needed action to control the pollution that one state sends to another. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will affect power plants and similar polluters in 27 states that have been identified as polluting other states. It is estimated that the affected plants will have to spend about $800 million to come into compliance with the new law, but it is estimated that it will save the country around $280 billion in health benefits.

Some of the expected health benefits of the new EPA rule are (starting in 2014):
* Protect 240 million American from smog and soot pollution.
* Prevent up to 34,000 premature deaths.
* Prevent 15,000 non-fatal heart attacks.
* Prevent 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis.
* Prevent 400,000 cases of aggravated asthma.
* Prevent 1.8 million sick days a year.

The fact that all of the above is preventable but has not been accomplished to date because of corporate greed and governmental foot-dragging is inexcusable. How can anyone justify putting corporate profits above the health of American citizens? Are the deaths and medical problems of hundreds of thousands of Americans just to be considered "collateral damage" in the drive for ever-fatter corporate bank accounts?

The new rule, which will go into effect on January 1st, will save between 670 and 1,700 premature deaths in Texas alone each year. But that has not prevented the Republican leadership in Texas from condemning the new rule. Governor Rick Perry said it "is another example of heavy-handed and misguided action from Washington, D.C., that threatens Texas jobs and families and puts at risk the reliable and affordable electricity our state needs to succeed." Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) joined the governor in expressing that sentiment.

Frankly, that attitude, though expected from Texas Republicans (who sold out to corporate interests years ago), is utterly ridiculous. These polluting plants should have been forced to clean up their act many years ago. They should never have had the right to put the health of Americans (in any state) in danger so they could save a few corporate dollars.

In fact, the state leadership in Texas are the last people who should be complaining. Texas has long led the nation in the amount of pollution it produces. There are only six countries in the entire world that produce more pollution than the state of Texas (and one of those countries is the United States).

This is a very good rule that is long overdue. I agree with regional EPA director Al Armendariz who said, "I think this is one of the most important rules the agency has ever published."

We can now expect the House (and Senate) Republicans to do everything in their power to overturn this new rule. Their recent actions (favoring corporate tax cuts while slashing programs that help ordinary people) have shown that they care a lot more about corporate bigwigs than the health and/or financial security of regular American citizens. We'll just have to hope the Democrats and the president have enough backbone to stand up for the new rule.