HARRISBURG—In a monumental victory for Pennsylvania’s environment and public health, the Pennsylvania Legislature was expected to conclude its ‘lame duck’ session Wednesday without voting on measures that would have blocked the Pennsylvania Clean Vehicles Program and the Rendell administration’s mercury reduction plan. Movement by the Legislature on these rollback measures was considered the last potential hurdle for both environmental programs, and they are now expected to be fully implemented.
“Pennsylvania is about to adopt two of the strongest environmental programs in the country—programs that will reap enormous benefits for the state’s environment and public health,” said Nathan Willcox, energy and clean air advocate for PennEnvironment. “PennEnvironment applauds the state’s leaders for standing up to industry lobbyists, and implementing two critical programs in the fight against mercury pollution from power plants and air pollution from cars and trucks.”
Like lead, even small levels of mercury exposure can affect the way kids learn, think, memorize and behave. Coal-fired power plants are responsible for at least 40 percent of the nation's mercury emissions, and Pennsylvania's power plants have the second highest mercury emissions in the country. This mercury accumulates in lakes and rivers, contaminating fish. Unfortunately, the Bush administration’s federal mercury rule weakened the Clean Air Act’s mercury reduction requirements and allows polluters to trade emissions credits, so that the oldest and dirtiest power plants in the country—many of which are located in Pennsylvania—could buy their way out of significant mercury emission reductions. By comparison, the Rendell administration’s state-level rule will require 90 percent mercury reductions from Pennsylvania’s coal-fired power plants by 2015, and not allow Pennsylvania’s plants to opt out of reducing their emissions by purchasing credits from plants in other states.
With regard to the Clean Vehicles Program, smog pollution triggers 300,000 asthma attacks in Pennsylvania each year, and is responsible for the “code red” pollution days during summer months across the Commonwealth. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) estimates that annual emissions of smog-forming pollutants from cars and trucks would drop by roughly 10 percent by 2025 as a result of the Clean Vehicles Program. It is also expected that the program would result in a 10 percent cut in annual toxic benzene pollution and a nearly 25 percent reduction in annual global warming pollution from cars and trucks in Pennsylvania by 2025.
“Pennsylvanians know that we can’t depend on the Bush administration to protect our environment and public health,” said Willcox. “The Rendell administration should be applauded for implementing these much-needed state-level programs in the absence of federal leadership on these critical environmental issues.”
Public support for both the Clean Vehicles Program and the Rendell administration’s mercury rule was made clear earlier this year during public comment periods conducted by the state’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB). Roughly 4,800 Pennsylvanians commented in support of the Clean Vehicles Program—including 1,500 PennEnvironment activists—and nearly 11,000 Pennsylvanians commented in support of the Rendell administration’s mercury rule—including 4,000 PennEnvironment activists. Public hearings were also held in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and the Philadelphia suburbs, and were dominated by supporters of the Clean Vehicles Program and the Rendell administration’s mercury rule. Finally, newspapers across the state editorialized repeatedly in favor of the two programs over the past two years.
Last fall and this spring, however, legislation was introduced in the state House and Senate that would have blocked the state-level proposals and force Pennsylvania to instead adopt weaker federal regulations. The Senate passed bills—SB 1025 and SB 1201—that would have derailed the Clean Vehicles Program and the Rendell administration’s mercury rule respectively, but both of these bills ended up stalling in the House. And while it was expected that the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee might start an alternative resolution process to block the Rendell administration’s mercury rule, that effort failed to materialize this week.
Both the Clean Vehicles Program and the Rendell administration’s mercury rule have also been supported by a diverse coalition of groups, including the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, the Pennsylvania PTA, and the state Nurses Association. The final regulatory hurdle for both programs was cleared earlier this month when the five-member Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) voted at separate meetings in support of the programs. “Pennsylvania’s serious environmental problems require the strongest possible solutions, and these two programs are two huge steps in the right direction,” concluded Willcox.
