Sorry Ted, Proposed air pollution rules would restrict toxic emissions

[Rick Rowlands]

Why doesn't the article state what the cost would be to bring all of these 200,000 boilers into compliance?   Before getting all excited aboutthis, stop and think the negative impacts of this new regulation.  How many jobs would this cost?  Imagine a small business that uses waste heat boilers in their operations, just eeking out a meager existence in this down economy.  Here comes the Obama EPA, demanding that the company stop using its waste heat boiler unless it installs MACT technology costing a couple hundred thousand dollars.  Could that business afford that added cost, or does the "Plant Closed- Auction Next Week" sign go up onthe front gate?  Imagine this repeating dozens or hundreds of times across the US.

There is not a mercury poisoning epidemic in this country.  Life expectancies are the longest they have ever been.  There is no need for this regulation.

[sfc_oliver]

Is this step one of the promise to double our energy costs?

[irishbobcat]

Sorry Ted, Proposed air pollution rules would restrict toxic emissions

Ted Strickland and his dirty coal and power companies got some bad news in today's Columbus Dispatch:

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WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration proposed new air pollution rules today that would sharply restrict toxic emissions such as mercury from the boilers that provide power for many Ohio factories and universities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said its proposed regulations would reduce mercury emissions by more than 50 percent from 200,000 industrial boilers and solid waste incinerators across the country. Mercury can cause damage to the developing brains and nervous systems of children before they are born.

The new rules, if put into effect, will have a major impact on virtually every part of the United States, particularly the industrial Midwest. They would cover boilers that burn natural gas, coal and oil to produce heat and electricity for factories, universities, hotels and commercial buildings.

In addition, the rules would require sharp reductions in toxic emissions from incinerators that burn solid waste at commercial and industrial sites.

Environmentalists hailed the news. Frank O'Donnell, president of the Clean Air Watch, a nonprofit environmental organization in Washington, called them "a huge step towards protecting children from toxic mercury and other hazards from smokestack pollution.''

"This is one of the most significant steps taken by the Obama EPA to protect public health,'' O'Donnell said. "Literally thousands of dirty-air deaths would be prevented each year.''

The EPA said the new rules, if fully put in place, would save as much as $44 billion every year in health costs and prevent as many as 5,200 premature deaths.

"Strong cuts to mercury and other harmful emissions will have real benefits for our health and our environment, spur clean technology innovations and save American communities billions of dollars in avoided health costs,'' said Lisa Jackson, administrator of the EPA, in a statement.

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Don't need anymore Mercury in the air tonight!