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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... Latest Releases
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| SEPTEMBER
24, 1998 1:13 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Clean Air Trust Frank O'Donnell of Clean Air Trust, 202-785-9625 |
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| Clean Air Trust Hails EPA for Promoting Cleanup of Dirty Electric Power Plants | ||||
| WASHINGTON
- September 24 - The non-profit Clean Air Trust today hailed what it called the
"historic action" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promote cleanup
of dirty electric power plants in 22 states east of the Mississippi. The EPA issued a final rule today which will require these 22 states to make deep cuts in their emissions of nitrogen oxides, the main source of ozone, or smog. Individual states can choose how to meet the emissions targets, but as a practical matter the cuts are expected to come chiefly from electric power plants. "This is truly an historic action -- one that will mean cleaner air throughout the Midwest and East," said Frank O'Donnell, executive director of the Clean Air Trust. "We're talking about some of the biggest sources of pollution in the nation. Many of these dirty electric plants have avoided pollution controls for decades," O'Donnell said. "Now they will finally have to modernize." The EPA action, aimed at addressing the regional problem of smog that drifts from one state to another, came despite ferocious lobbying by the coal mining industry and some Midwestern and Southeastern power companies. "EPA Administrator Carol Browner stuck to her guns and did the right thing," said O'Donnell. "She is seeking to protect public health." O'Donnell noted that every one of the affected states had levels of smog above the federal health standard this summer. "This should go a long way towards reducing the number of `ozone action days,'" he said. ------ For further information, please contact the Clean Air Trust at 202-785-9625. -0- |
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