News
Press Release: 1/20/2005
From: Carthage Water & Electric Plant Board
“Clear Skies” is Best Approach to Improve Air Quality
The U. S. Congress is now addressing an issue important to current and future generations of citizens of Carthage – the quality of the air we breathe. Right now it is debating how best to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from the power plants that generate electricity.
Our community has a big stake in this issue, and that's why the Carthage Water & Electric Plant Board has endorsed the Administration's “Clear Skies” proposal as the best approach to make significant improvements in air quality while holding down utility and consumer costs. The Clear Skies proposal would reduce power plant emissions by 70% nationwide by the year 2020.
This week, The CW&EP Board approved writing letters to Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent urging them to sign on to the proposal, and I want to share with you why we did so.
About 70% of all electricity in the U.S. comes from converting coal and natural gas into electricity – a process that inevitably leads to emissions. Here in Carthage, we buy base load energy from the coal unit located in Sikeston, make short-term power purchases from units in this region, and generate a portion of our energy needs with natural gas and diesel fuel.
We believe that as a local and global “good citizen”, CW&EP has an obligation to do its part to ensure state-of-the-art environmental protection in everything we do. We believe that the Clear Skies proposal will reduce emission levels in the most direct way and sooner than alternatives. We also believe it will hold down costs for residential and business consumers because it will eliminate a lot of federal bureaucracy and rely on proven methods for obtaining reductions.
As your community-owned electric utility, our goal is to ensure that we provide Carthage with reliable, safe, and lower-cost electricity both today and tomorrow. The Clear Skies approach to emissions reductions is clearly one that will help us meet those goals, and speedy passage of this bill is in our community's interests.
If any citizen would like additional information about the Clear Skies proposal, or a copy of our letter, you can obtain it by going to the Web site ( www.ecarthage.com ) or administration offices of CW&EP, 149 E. Third.
CLEAR SKIES LEGISLATION IS NEEDED
It will ensure significant improvements in air quality by requiring the emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and mercury (Hg) from power plants to be reduced 70% nationwide from 2002 levels. It will replace multiple regulations with a single, coordinated set of statutory requirements for reducing air pollutants and Hg emissions from power plants.
THE MAJOR ADVANTAGES OF CLEAR SKIES LEGISLATION
Cleaner : The legislation will ensure improvements in air quality by requiring emissions of SO 2 , NOx, and Hg from power plants be reduced by 70% nationwide from 2002 levels.
Sooner : Emissions reduction levels and deadlines required by statute cannot be challenged in court and do not depend on state implementation. By comparison, agency regulations and state control plans are subject to endless litigation that can delay improvements in air quality. With Clear Skies, and the certainty it will provide, everyone will enjoy the benefits of this aggressive program sooner rather than later.
Cheaper : Overall, the Clear Skies initiative will reduce costs and provide greater certainty by streamlining multiple, overlapping regulations. It calls for the establishment of a specific emission-reduction control regime that will remain unchanged for a definite period of time. Also, the initiative will rely on proven market-based emissions trading to reduce the cost of lowering emissions.
ISN'T CLEAR SKIES A “ROLLBACK” OF THE CLEAN AIR ACT?
While the nation's air quality has improved since the Clean Air Act became law in 1970, the addition of cumbersome, duplicitous and complex regulations hinder the law's potential. Regulations are often subject to lengthy legal challenges and court review. Clear Skies will replace the piecemeal approach with a single set of statutory requirements. By prescribing specific reduction levels and deadlines in the Clean Air Act, the measure will ensure that lawsuits will not delay action.
Moreover, Clear Skies will require greater nationwide reductions of SO 2 and NOx emissions than current law. The Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), for example, is more limited in geographic scope because it aims to address non-attainment problems, most of which are in the eastern region.
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