Clean
Air Act?
By
Carolyn Westmoreland
Last
month, while Congress debated, fought, and strong-armed for key
votes in order to pass the Medicare and energy legislation, a rewrite
of the Clean Air Act was tucked into the Clear Skies initiative
regarding regulation of small engines. The Clear Skies initiative
would have exempted corporate polluters from employing pollution
controls needed for clean air too. After looking into the Clear
Skies initiative I learned that more dirty air will be the result
if the initiative is enacted.
Two-cycle engines create large amounts of pollution
because they are inefficient. Two-cycle engines release 25-30% of
their oil and gas unburned into the air. Toxins such as benzene
and acrolein are released into the environment when even minuscule
amounts of gasoline are released unburned. These engines also release
toxins into the air when heat causes the fuel in the tank to evaporate
or when an engine is refilled. Once released into the air, nitrogen
oxides, and unburned fuel molecules, called hydrocarbons, react
with sunlight to form smog. The hotter the weather, the quicker
the chemical reactions happen, so in hot weather even more smog
is created. Benzene and related chemicals are known carcinogens
Senator Kit Bond of Missouri inserted a rider into
this legislation that will prohibit regulating emissions from small
engines. By coincidence, Briggs and Stratton manufactures engines
and parts in Poplar Bluff and Rolla, Missouri. The only exception
to the rider inserted into the Clear Skies initiative by Senator
Bond is the state of California.
Ive always thought of our state as a leader
and a good example for other states to follow, but it will not happen
this time unless the Clear Skies initiative is blocked permanently,
or changed by the court. Under the Clean Air Act, only California
has had the authority to implement initiatives that go beyond federal
standards. Other states were then given the opportunity to adopt
California standards if they thought it would help clean up the
air in their own states. This rider, attached to the Clear Skies
initiative, if allowed by the court to stay as written, does not
allow other states to implement new standards for small engines.
California is the only state that will be allowed to regulate small
engine pollution. This is a back room deal that will affect the
health of millions of people. When this plan came to the light of
day the directors of air pollution control agencies in eight states
said that this prohibition, "will limit the ability of all
states to solve serious public health-related air quality problems."
Small engines are not the only problem with the
Clear Skies initiative. The Bush administration tried to exempt
corporate polluters from installing EPA required pollution controls.
This rule change would let corporate owners of polluting facilities
operate without installing effective pollution controls, or even
giving notice to people living near these facilities. The Clean
Air Act requires that any expansion of facilities include reductions
in pollution. The Clear Skies initiative was all set to go into
effect in 17 states, including CA, when thankfully, a panel of three
judges in the U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals ruled that the changes "demonstrated the
irreparable harm and likelihood of success"
So, the court has blocked a move by the Bush administration
that would exempt corporate polluters from employing pollution controls
needed for clean air. The court did not give an exact date on when
oral arguments would take place, but it is speculated that this
could happen by next fall, with a decision in late 2004 or early
2005.
After looking into the Clear Skies initiative, Im
certain that the changes our administration tried to make in the
Clean Air Act are unhealthy for all of us. The clear choice should
be clean air.
To find out more about the Clear
Skies initiative and other
recent legislation that should concern all of us, please follow
the links from our web site:
progressivewritersbloc.com.
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