[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12567-S12568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page S12567]]

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                                 Senate

           TIME TO CLEAN UP AMERICA'S COAL-FIRED POWERPLANTS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Senate will soon recess until the 
beginning of this Congress' second Session in January of 1998. That 
provides time to develop a thoughtful proposal on one of the most 
pressing environmental threats confronting the United States as a 
whole, and especially the Midwest and the Northeast: namely, the rivers 
of pollution that stream from the smokestacks of hundreds of old coal-
fired powerplants, especially in the Midwest.
  These powerplants are collectively the source of enormous amounts of 
air pollution. Mercury poisons lakes and streams, as well as the fish 
that swim in them. Oxides of nitrogen not only create groundlevel ozone 
that chokes almost every major America city, but are transformed into 
acids that contribute to both acid rain and fine particulate matter. 
Together with the fine particles formed by sulfur dioxide emissions, 
they contribute to tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. Finally, 
carbon-rich coal adds to global warming, which has increased the 
temperatures of Earth's air, oceans, and soils, while raising sea 
levels and triggering meltdowns of glaciers and icecaps. If you want to 
see the effects of this pollution, you need only to hike to the top of 
Camel's Hump in the Green Mountains, or talk to the fishermen in 
Missisquoi Bay who catch fish contaminated with mercury, or measure the 
increasing acid deposition in pristine lakes within Vermont wilderness 
areas.
  Mr. President, none of this is necessary and eliminating these 
problems need not trigger the sort of regional conflicts that 
characterized the sometimes bitter ten year struggle to enact a federal 
program to control acid rain. There are ways of burning coal so that it 
produces only a tiny fraction of the air pollution now being emitted by 
these powerplants. And, since virtually all of these powerplants are 
reaching the age at which significant investment is required to keep 
them on line, the nation has a unique and valuable opportunity to 
address the problem.
  Steps should be taken not only to prevent further degradation of our 
environment, but also to ensure fairness in retail electricity 
competition. When Congress passed the Clean Air Act in


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[[Page S12568]]

1970, many of the old, dirty powerplants that were expected to close 
down were granted exemptions to the strict air pollution control 
requirements that applied to new facilities. Yet, twenty years later, 
these old plants continue to operate and enjoy a substantial, unfair 
competitive economic advantage over electric generators with pollution 
control technology.
  If ways can be found to assure that investments are made in clean 
technologies, pollution of almost every sort can be sharply reduced 
and, in likelihood, so can electricity rates. Contrary to the recent 
wave of doomsday advertising paid for by multi-million dollar electric 
utility companies, this can be done without jeopardizing our economy. 
Vermont has shown how jobs can be created through renewable energy and 
energy efficient technology.
  It is clear, Mr. President, that these new technologies and the 
expertise in building and operating them, will be needed by every 
nation in the world. If the United States can be the first to master 
these new engines of the future, we can also be the first to build and 
export them.
  The challenge, Mr. President, is to find the proper combination of 
measures. During the coming winter, I hope and intend to work with my 
colleagues and others to identify those measures.

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