Public News Service-WV

December 24, 2010

EPA Starts Clean Air Act Process for Controlling Greenhouse Gases

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - It's a move that promises to have quite an impact on West Virginia. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is starting the process under the Clean Air Act for controlling greenhouse gas emissions by the nation's 500 fossil fuel power plants. Advocates of the EPA action say it will create new jobs for West Virginians, but others are apprehensive about the effect on the state's coal industry.

The assistant EPA administrator for air and radiation, Gina McCarthy, says it's too early to say much about what EPA's rules will look like, but says the agency will start by encouraging a phase-in of cost-effective technologies under already well-established Clean Air Act programs.

"You will see measurable reduction. This is where there are the most significant and reasonable opportunities for us to have pollution reduction, and also to provide certainty to these industries."

McCarthy says the agency will be flexible in how the rules will be applied, and will not place an overall cap on how much carbon utilities can emit.

Pat Hemlipp is a spokesman for American Electric Power (AEP), one of the nation's largest consumers of coal. AEP supported cap-and-trade, which was blocked by Republicans in the Senate. He praises the EPA's approach, with reservations.

"Especially, their recognition that any program should be as flexible as possible. But we remain concerned that the Clean Air Act is going to constrain how flexible the agency can be, because the Clean Air Act does not allow much flexibility."

Critics of climate change regulations say they will damage the coal and electricity industries in West Virginia, and have questioned how expensive control technologies will be. McCarthy insists the technologies are ready and will be good for jobs in those areas.

"They will be making investments in new control technologies, investments that will not only sustain jobs in the U.S. but actually grow jobs in the U.S."

The rules will be drafted with industry input and public comments, and will start with new power plants or plants undergoing major changes.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/17660-1

---
To be removed from this list please send an e-mail to remove@publicnewsservice.org and put the word "remove" in the subject line.