WASHINGTON -- December 17 -- "Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced which communities are falling short of health based standards for soot pollution. The EPA is giving communities a diagnosis - but rather than offering a real cure, they are prescribing snake-oil.

"Communities deserve to know if airborne soot poses a local health risk - and they also deserve clean, safe air as soon as possible. Instead, the Bush administration and some Congressional leaders are actively working to promote legislation that would allow the dirtiest facilities to pollute more - for longer - than they would if the existing Clean Air Act was strongly enforced.

"The health problems caused by soot will not be solved unless states get help from the federal government to curb the pollution coming from America's oldest and dirtiest coal fired power plants. The technology exists today to reduce soot pollution, and the current Clean Air Act has the tools to get the job done. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has shown no willingness to enforce the law."

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