Beat me to it.
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Posted on 08/19/2008 4:15:20 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay areas do not meet tough new air quality standards designed to protect public health and may need additional regulations, federal regulators said Tuesday.
The Environmental Protection Agency's announcement drew criticism from a top state air official, who warned it could hurt economic development and do little to improve air quality.
The EPA said its review found Brown, Columbia, Dane, Racine, Waukesha and Milwaukee counties have unacceptable levels of fine particulate matter in the air or contribute to problems in neighboring areas.
The pollution is largely caused by coal-fired power plants and diesel engines and creates health problems such as asthma, lung disease and heart problems. The EPA estimates tens of thousands of premature deaths are linked to sooty air every year.
The six Wisconsin counties are among 215 in 25 states that the EPA says do not meet the new standard designed to protect the public from tiny particles and should be designated non-attainment areas. The agency is gathering additional comments from the states and plans to make final decisions by the end of this year.
The areas would be forced to develop plans to reduce pollution. Common steps would be to require new companies to find ways to offset their pollution and to build plants with stringent emission controls. All that adds up to higher costs for business and, some say, encourages companies to build new plants or expand elsewhere.
Gov. Jim Doyle asked the agency last year to declare the entire state in attainment. He acknowledged then three counties were not in compliance but projected they would be by 2015 without additional regulations.
The EPA rejected that recommendation, saying all areas currently not in compliance must be designated non-attainment. It also said the state's projection might no longer be accurate because a federal clean air rule it relied on had been struck down in the courts.
The state also did not acknowledge that Dane County was not in compliance and that Columbia County was contributing to problems there, the agency said.
Al Shea, an air official with the Department of Natural Resources, said the state would try to persuade the EPA to reverse its decision. Wisconsin is already taking steps to reduce pollution, including a pending rule that would significantly reduce mercury emissions, that make more regulations unnecessary, he said.
"Non-attainment designations do in fact inhibit business growth and development, and that's not good for the state of Wisconsin," Shea said. "We think that sort of burden on the state's businesses is unnecessary. It would be another thing if the state hadn't been moving forward with regulations that significantly limit air emissions in the state, but we have."
The Sierra Club, an environmental group, had argued the state's recommendation put business concerns ahead of public health. A group spokeswoman, Jennifer Feyerherm, praised the EPA for basing its findings on sound science.
"It is frustrating that Governor Doyle and the state agency in charge of protecting our air quality ignored the science before them and made a political recommendation," she said. "But we've got EPA watching our backs here. We are now on track to start reducing fine particulate pollution and making our air healthier to breathe."
In Madison, city and county officials noted they had already taken major steps to improve air quality. Doyle recently announced the state will no longer burn coal at Madison plants that power the Capitol and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A utility also has announced plans to phase out coal at a downtown plant by 2011.
"We expect any non-attainment designation to be short-lived," said David Merritt, coordinator of the Dane County Clean Air Coalition.
P.S. Our Governor, "Diamond Jim" Doyle, D, WI wants to do away with all coal-fired power plants. Coincidence? I think not.
And someone explain this to me...when the LibTards SCREAM for clean air, but it means no businesses can afford to build there...what do they rely upon for a tax base? Of course, it's you and me. But then, once WE can't support these idiots, it all goes to h3ll because everyday people just don't have this kind of money to fork over into the Government coffers.
So, they're basically cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
I guess I'll never be as smart as a Liberal, LOL!
OMG, liberal Wisconsin cities are not meeting their EPA standards? Tsk, tsk. shame on them.
Heard that Seattle, WA failed also.
I read that earlier this week.
Poor, poor, Leftie Greenies. My heart goes out to them...NOT! ;)
Someone is ssssssssssmokin!! :)
What are they going to replace the coal fired electric plants with?
Last I heard, the greenies there were still opposed to nuclear, and the wind is iffy, and solar won’t do because of the number of cloudy days.
Glad I no longer live there.
They will keep their coal plants and sue the ones to the west of them in Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas.
They will probably win without any proof that those western power stations cause significant pollution in their state. The NE states suits against the Midwest plants will serve as their blame shifting precedent.
We will one day sue and regulate ourselves to the point where we have no jobs, no electricity, no food, no medical care, no transportation, and no shelter. That's the RAT legacy.
Beat me to it.
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
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