Talking Points

Four pollutants are the major cause of some of the most serious environmental problems we face, including acid rain, smog, mercury poisoning, and global warming. This legislation reduces emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and carbon dioxide from electric power plants.

The Clean Power Act:

• Requires all power plants to meet modern emissions standards by enforcing statewide caps on carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and mercury emissions in the electric power industry;
• Enacts regulations to achieve a 75% reduction in emissions of both SO2 and NOx within 5 years;
• Establishes a cap at 1990 levels of carbon dioxide emissions within 5 years;
• Enacts regulations to achieve a 90% reduction in mercury emissions within 5 years; and
• Directs the department to make a plan to eliminate the threat of mercury in the environment.

Electric power plants are the nation's #1 air polluter.

• Most Americans think of electricity as “clean” energy and are shocked to learn that power plants are the single worst industrial contributor of air pollution in the U.S. Nationally, they contribute 70% of the sulfur dioxide emissions, 33% of nitrogen oxide emissions, 23% of mercury emissions, and 35% of man-made carbon dioxide emissions.(1)

Power plants owe this dubious distinction, in large part, to a legal “loophole.”

• When the Clean Air Act was enacted over 30 years ago, during the Nixon administration, big utility companies successfully lobbied against stringent controls by saying the oldest, dirtiest power plants would soon be replaced by new state-of-the-art facilities.(2) Many of those outdated facilities – which were already old in 1970 – are still in use.(2) 
• In some cases, power plants from 1922 are still in operation and do not meet the environmental requirements that every new facility must follow.(2)
• These power plants pollute up to 10 times more than newer plants.(3)

Closing this loophole is a matter of life and death.

• Nearly 19,000 premature deaths could be avoided if dirty “loophole” power plants were made to conform to modern clean air laws.(4)

Closing this loophole would reduce asthma attacks.

• Pollutants from grandfathered power plants blow from state-to-state, provoking asthma attacks in our major cities.(4) Experts estimate 603,000 asthma attacks nationwide could be avoided if dirty “loophole” power plants were made to conform to modern clean air laws.(4)

Closing this loophole would decrease mercury poisoning.

• Mercury is deposited in the water and accumulates in fish. This causes poisoning of humans, and wildlife, who eat those fish.(5)
• At high levels, mercury can cause serious damage to the nervous system and is especially harmful to pregnant women and children.(5) 
• Eagles, osprey, common loons, river otters, mink, and other fish-eating animals may suffer premature death, weight loss, difficulties reproducing, and other problems as a result of eating mercury-contaminated fish.(5) 
• This act would cut mercury pollution by 90%.

Closing this loophole would reduce acid rain.

• Sulfur dioxide is the chief cause of acid rain.(6) 
• Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to damage of trees at high elevations and many sensitive forest soils. In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation’s cultural heritage.(7) 
• Under this Act, sulfur dioxide emissions would be reduced by 75%.

Closing this loophole would rein in global warming.

• Carbon dioxide continues to accumulate in the atmosphere and leads to changes in our global climate. 
• Rising global temperatures are expected to raise sea levels, and change precipitation and other local climate conditions. Changing regional climate could alter forests, crop yields, and water supplies. 
• This Act would reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels, as called for in the 1992 Rio Climate Treaty that the United States has ratified.

Closing this loophole would, literally, clear the air.

• Nitrogen oxides are the chief cause of ozone smog. In some cases, a single outdated power plant emits as much NOx pollution as an entire state.(2) 
• Every year millions of Americans visit our national parks, and increasingly are complaining about what they see, or rather, by what they don’t see. 
• This Act would cut NOx emissions by 75%.

Closing this loophole will lead to increased energy efficiency and consumer savings.

• Older power plants can waste as much as two-thirds of the energy in the fuel they burn.(8) Replacement of outdated equipment with modern power plants will increase energy efficiency and dramatically reduce air pollution.
• Just as new cars, furnaces, refrigerators, and all other power-consuming devices operate much more efficiently than those built 50 years ago, power plants that modernize will dramatically increase their efficiency and, over time, pass that savings onto consumers. 
• More efficient energy use and increased reliance on renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, will contribute to achieving the emission reductions required by the Clean Power Act. These measures lower consumers’ energy bills while they help to reduce emissions, as documented by the “Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future” study conducted by five national laboratories of the U.S. Department of Energy.(9)

Closing this loophole makes good economic sense.

• Protecting our high quality of life environment by reducing air pollutant emissions returns substantial economic benefit to us through avoided health-care costs. 
• Our state will enjoy greater tourism resulting from healthier lakes and improved vistas. We’ll have more visits by fishermen, hunters, and wildlife viewers to wildlife ecosystems. We’ll see a more productive forest and agricultural sector. 
• Implementing a four-pollutant emission-reduction program will avoid added costs to industry and consumers by allowing companies to meet comprehensive regulations less expensively than by installing piecemeal pollution controls.

Closing this loophole will make power more reliable.

• Although some try to argue that modernizing power plants will somehow make electricity unreliable, the truth is that modern plants are less likely to break down than the old loophole-protected power plants. In fact, cutbacks in efforts to modernize power plants and expand renewable energy capacity directly contributed to power shortfalls recently experienced in California. 
• Power plant operators are capable of scheduling needed retrofits in a coordinated way so as not to cause reliability problems. With sufficient notice and lead time, they can meet the new requirements without affecting reliability.