[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 24, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1515-S1517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LESSONS FROM A CLEAN AIR LISTENING TOUR

  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I have spoken many times about my 
serious concern for our Nation's deteriorating air quality. I would 
like to speak today on behalf of those Americans who are working 
tirelessly at the regional and local levels to protect our air quality, 
and who have expressed their concerns to me. Many Americans across the 
country feel that the Clean Air Act has not done enough to protect 
their health and their environment. They also worry that, under the 
leadership of our President, things will only get worse. They are 
taking action at the local and State levels, and State government is 
responding with real leadership. We need to support these actions with 
strong, Federal legislation to protect our current laws and improve our 
air quality.
  On a nationwide Clean Air Listening Tour I initiated in 2003, I heard 
first-hand from Americans who are tired of getting sick from breathing 
dirty air, and tired of putting their children's health at risk from 
eating mercury-contaminated fish. In Asheville, NC, and in Boston, MA, 
the public demands that the Federal Government work immediately to 
clean their air.
  Asheville is situated in close proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains 
National Park, the most visited National Park in the Nation at nine 
million visitors every year. Sadly, this majestic park is also the 
Nation's most polluted, as reported by the National Parks Conservation 
Association. Its visibility is tied for the worst with Mammoth Cave 
National Park, at a mere 14-mile range during the summer months. Under 
natural conditions, the vista should average around 80-miles.
  The Smokies have the highest rate of acid precipitation among the 
parks, at thirty-five kilograms per hectare. This is six to seven times 
the nitrogen pollution that local soils can process. In fact, the 
highest peak in the Smokies can be as acidic as vinegar.

[[Page S1516]]

  The total number of hourly ozone exceedences in the Smoky Mountains 
far outnumbers other parks at over one hundred and thirty-three 
thousand per year. Ozone exposure in the Smokies is twice that of the 
region's most ozone-ridden cities--Knoxville, TN, and Atlanta, GA.
  These statistics mean that in the Smoky Mountains, dozens of tree and 
plant species are damaged, streams are dying, aquatic wildlife 
populations are declining, and area residents face increased mortality 
and chronic lung ailments. Plus, the fish that people consume are 
poisoned with toxic mercury, which can cause a number of birth defects 
and health problems in adults.
  What is causing all this dreaded pollution? While cars and industry 
contribute substantially to the problem, old, dirty power plants are my 
greatest concern. About 30,000 premature deaths occur every year due to 
power plant pollution alone. Incredibly, North Carolina loses 1,800 
people each year because of this pollution. And, hundreds of thousands 
of children are born annually at risk of birth defects and neurological 
damage from their mothers' exposure to mercury.
  These are shocking figures, and we should be responding immediately 
to this crisis. Power plants are still the Nation's single largest 
source of air pollution in this country. They are responsible for most 
of our Nation's smog and haze pollution, and asthma- and lung disease-
causing particulate matter, by emitting 60 percent or more of national 
sulfur dioxide emissions, and 25 percent of nitrogen oxides. In fact, 
the country's oldest and dirtiest plants are responsible for 75 to 85 
percent of the haze in the southwestern Appalachians. Power plants also 
emit more than one-third of the Nation's poisonous mercury into the 
air.
  We should also know that power plants emit 25 percent of our 
country's emissions of carbon dioxid--the greatest greenhouse gas. Our 
Nation's utilities alone send forth 10 percent of the world's carbon 
dioxide emissions. They are, in part, responsible for the global 
warming that is occurring today and will continue into the future. 
Global warming will seriously affect the 130 species of trees and the 
4,000 other plant species in the Smokies, as well as worsen the already 
dangerously unhealthy ozone pollution problem. Many local residents are 
not only highly concerned, but they are frustrated with our Federal 
Government's absent leadership.
  State officials and others in Asheville and the Smoky Mountain region 
are tired of waiting on the Federal Government to protect their air and 
their climate. They are already acting to reduce this power plant 
pollution. The North Carolina legislature has made great strides with 
the passage of the Clean Smokestacks Act. Other States are quickly 
following suit. However, States are keenly aware that since much of the 
pollution they experience blows in from elsewhere, a national solution 
is crucial. In my listening session at the Grove Park Inn on May 19, 
2003, I heard witnesses testify in compelling language how air 
pollution affects Smoky Mountain communities, and how citizens are 
banding together to protect public health.
  North Carolina State Senator Steven Metcalf, Buncombe County 
Commissioner and Chair of the Land of Sky Regional Council David Gantt, 
as well as John Stanton, Vice President of the National Environmental 
Trust, joined me in a press conference to launch the listening session. 
Hugh Morton, Owner of Grandfather Mountain, which is a scenic travel 
attraction near Linville, NC, began the public forum with a slide show 
illustrating the devastation that air pollution has on his business. 
Slide after slide showed trees made bare by acid rain, and vistas 
clogged with haze. There is no doubt in his mind that such pollution 
threatens the environmental health and economic productivity of the 
mountain.
  Don Barger, Senior Director of the Southeast Regional Office of the 
National Parks Conservation Association, Brownie Newman, Executive 
Coordinator of the Western North Carolina Alliance, Elizabeth Ouzts, 
State Director of the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group, 
and Michael Shore, Managing Director of the local Environmental 
Defense, added to the dialogue by describing how grassroots action has 
led to a high level of public awareness about air pollution and its 
effects, and how that action has resulted in State legislation to begin 
cleaning the air.
  Dr. Clay Ballantine, an Asheville physician and medical expert on 
power plant-related health damage, also provided excellent testimony. 
Given that air pollution decreases lung function, causes pneumonia and 
respiratory infection, increases lung cancer rates similar to those of 
second-hand smoke exposure, causes asthma and asthma attacks, and leads 
to premature death, Dr. Ballantine is concerned about the suffering he 
sees first-hand. I am grateful to all of these witnesses for 
participating in the listening session, and for sharing their expertise 
with me.
  Since Asheville ranks sixth in the Nation in per capita deaths caused 
by power plant pollution, and since North Carolina is facing millions 
of dollars in additional pollution-related health costs, local citizens 
there have every reason to be concerned, and every right to be outraged 
that this administration plans to do nothing to help them. The 
administration has worked to effectively neutralize and eviscerate 
nearly all major protections in the Clean Air Act. From dropping all 
enforcement cases against the worst violators of New Source Review, to 
the recent proposal to delist utilities for mandatory mercury control, 
this administration should make all of us angry. These actions are an 
insult to all Americans, and a slap in the face. From Asheville, NC to 
Boston, MA, Americans made clear to me their desperation and 
frustration at being told they have to wait a decade or more for this 
administration and this Congress to clean their air, while the hundreds 
of thousands of asthma attacks and birth defects continue across the 
country.
  Residents of Boston, MA are especially worried about the potential 
dangers of mercury pollution from power plants, as the Boston economy, 
which is highly reliant on commercial and recreational fishing and 
tourism, may become affected by declining consumer confidence in the 
safety of local fish. Fortunately for some New England residents, 
states such as Massachusetts and Connecticut are already moving ahead 
with emission reduction plans.
  I sincerely appreciate the participation and support of my 
distinguished colleagues Senator Ted Kennedy and Congressmen Mike 
Capuano, Jim McGovern, and Bill Delahunt, and Massachusetts Attorney 
General Tom Reilly in standing with me on September 22, 2003, at the 
New England Aquarium to bring attention to the serious mercury 
pollution problem facing New England. Also lending their support during 
the press conference were Ed Toomey, Aquarium President and CEO, and 
Armond Cohen, Executive Director of the Clean Air Task Force in Boston. 
The Aquarium and Task Force have been leaders in mercury and air 
pollution-related research, education, and advocacy.
  At the public forum, Cindy Luppi, Organizing Director of Clean Water 
Action in Boston, and Jane Bright of HealthLink in Marblehead, 
Massachusetts spoke about the grassroots Northeast Clean Power 
Campaign, representing over 300 organizations from Maine to Connecticut 
that are all fighting to reduce power plant pollution in the region.
  Ms. Luppi also provided compelling findings from a Tufts University 
study: direct costs of environmentally-attributable neurobehavioral 
disorders, such as those caused by mercury pollution, in Massachusetts 
alone total between $40 million and $150 million each year, with 
indirect costs totaling an additional $100 million to $400 million. 
Also, Ms. Luppi presented the findings of a 2002 Massachusetts 
Department of Environmental Protection study which determined, ``The 
Department believes that the removal of 85 to 90-plus percent of 
mercury in flue gas has been demonstrated to be technologically and 
economically feasible.'' In other words, there is no excuse to delay 
mandating tough national mercury reductions under the Clean Air Act.
  Massachusetts and Connecticut are moving now to require an 85 to 95 
percent reduction in mercury emissions in the next 5 to 9 years. Like 
in Asheville, the witnesses stressed that such State-level progress is 
encouraging, but that real relief from air pollution can only come from 
reductions made across the country.

[[Page S1517]]

  During the listening session, Dr. Jill Stein, a physician and 
President of the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities, and 
Dr. Bill Bress, State Toxicologist for the Vermont Department of 
Health, detailed the serious and often life-threatening health effects 
of mercury exposure through consumption of contaminated fish. Nearly 10 
percent of American women have high mercury blood levels above EPA's 
safe health threshold. Pregnant women who consume even small amounts of 
fish can inadvertently put their developing babies at risk of mental 
retardation, seizures, cerebral palsy, vision and hearing problems, 
abnormal gait and speech, and learning disabilities. EPA has estimated 
that 630,000 children are born at risk each year due to mercury 
exposure in the womb. This is twice EPA's previous estimate.
  An astonishing 50 percent of Americans who eat fish regularly exceed 
the mercury health limit, and 10 percent exceed the limit by a factor 
of four. Adults are also susceptible to developing heart, kidney, and 
immune system disorders due to mercury consumption. Anglers and certain 
ethnic groups who eat large amounts of fish face two to five times 
these health risks. Clearly, dramatically curbing mercury pollution 
will improve all of our lives.
  Dr. Steve Petron, Board Member of the National Wildlife Federation 
and Senior Ecosystems Scientist for CH2M Hill, demonstrated how toxic 
mercury pollution from power plants harms our Nation's aquatic 
wildlife. Those species that depend on fish for food are the most at 
risk. Because of this, loons, bald eagles, otters, amphibians, and 
other animals are already facing or could soon face decline. And 
lastly, Dr. Praveen Amar, Director of Science and Policy for the 
Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, NESCAUM, 
represented State air quality regulators by stressing that mercury 
control technologies are available and affordable, and by expressing 
the need for smart Federal environmental laws to drive technology 
innovation and application. As a recent NESCAUM report found, ``Where 
strong regulatory drivers exist, substantial technological improvements 
and steady reductions in control costs follow.''
  That's where Congress comes in. We are elected to serve the people of 
this Nation. Where people are becoming sick and are dying because of 
air pollution, something must be done. We must never knowingly allow 
such suffering to continue if we have the ability to act, and we do. 
Time and time again, mothers and fathers, doctors, scientists, and 
community members ask for our help.
  At the bare minimum, we should be protecting current law. But to 
truly benefit the public good, we must pass tough legislation to force 
dirty power plants and other polluters to start behaving like good 
citizens. The air is not their toxic waste dump. It is not theirs to 
pollute for free, even though this administration is encouraging them 
to think that way. If it belongs to anyone, the air belongs to those 
children who play outdoors, or those families who go fishing and take 
trips to our scenic national parks, or to the poorest of us who are 
unlucky enough to live next to a smokestack. The air belongs to all of 
us. We should treat it like the most precious resource we know. 
Americans from around the country have learned this important lesson. 
Congress and this administration must now do the same.

                          ____________________