| WASHINGTON
- August 27 - Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director.
"The Bush Administration couldn't have picked a worse time to weaken the Clean Air Act and give a pass to polluters, including power companies. The big power companies that lobby heavily against modernizing and cleaning up their old dinosaur power plants are the same companies that fell behind on upgrading their power lines, which led to this month's blackouts.
"The Bush Administration rule signed today creates a loophole exempting power plants from the Clean Air Act protection that requires older factories to install modern pollution control technologies when making changes that increase the pollution they produce. Polluters can replace huge pieces of their factories without installing readily available modern technology to curb the soot and smog pollution that leaves our communities at risk to more asthma attacks, acid rain, and other toxic pollution.
"The Bush Administration has given polluters a pass on making their facilities safer for our communities. As millions of Americans sat in the dark earlier this month, we learned first hand what happens when companies don't modernize. Thirty years of environmental progress has taught us that the Clean Air Act works. So why is the Bush Administration leaving our communities at risk from increased smog pollution by gutting a critical part of it?
"The Sierra Club will work to engage the public in fighting this irresponsible move by the Bush Administration."
###
|
