Victory on mercury: Obama's EPA chooses health over pollution
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President Barack Obama held firm last week on his administration's plan to enact the first national controls on mercury and other airborne toxics generated by electric utilities.
The decision is good news for Pennsylvania, and especially its children and young mothers, since the state's mercury emissions are second only to Texas.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the new regulations will provide $90 billion of public health and economic benefits a year -- as much as $9 for every dollar spent to reduce pollution from power plants.
More important, EPA officials say the rules will prevent 11,000 premature deaths each year, along with 4,700 heart attacks, 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and 6,300 cases of acute bronchitis in children.
Congress directed the EPA in 1990 to address mercury pollution through amendments to the federal Clean Air Act. Mercury is a potent toxin that attacks the brain and central nervous system, and is especially harmful to young mothers and children.
While the new rules have attracted predictable opposition from lobbies and politicians who say they could cost jobs and lead to higher utility bills, anger from industry is not universal. A national coalition that claims to represent 125,000 businesses, some of them Fortune 500 companies, thanked the Obama administration for providing clarity they need in the new regulations to move forward.
After it postponed stronger rules this year to control smog-forming ozone, we're glad the administration is holding the line on mercury.
First Published December 25, 2011 12:00 am
