Destroying Clean Air in America

Coal and Related Carbon Resources / Related Environmental Issues / Environmental Impact

Dr. Conca opines that as the White House moves to repeal or gut environmental regulations like the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, we should all be very, very worried. Why? Because the Clean Air Act is the single piece of legislation that has saved the most lives in history. The Clean Air Act is why coal-generated power only kills about 15,000 people a year in the U.S., but kills over 300,000 people a year in China. According to the World Health Organization, Environmental pollutants kill 1.7 million children each year. But because of our environmental regulations, most of them are not in America. Yes, there are onerous regulations that can be streamlined, but taking a sledgehammer to what saves many lives is unethical and uneconomic.

The Clean Air Act was passed under President Nixon, then strengthened under the first President Bush, both Republicans. The Clean Air Act is periodically updated to deal with new pollutants and situations. And has been wildly successful. Over the last 20 years, total emissions of the six principal air pollutants have decreased by more than 41%, while the Gross Domestic Product has increased by more than 64%. If allowed, the Clean Air Act will deliver even more benefits over the next 40 years. However, the Obama Administration added carbon dioxide to the list of pollutants as a way to address climate change. And that provoked the ire of most Republicans and has focused the new Administration knife on the Clean Air Act. That knife is Scott Pruitt, the new Chief of the Environmental Protection Agency.

As the former Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt sued the EPA fourteen times, has filed suit against the EPA to block regulatory amendments to the Clean Air Act for ozone, mercury and CO₂, and has recently said he will not recuse himself from any of the ongoing lawsuits he was involved in prior to becoming head of the EPA.

Original URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/03/10/destroying-americas-clean-air/#4e602adf384b