US Senate Democrats hold alternate 'hearing' on Bush mercury rule
Washington (Platts)--19Apr2005
Complaining that they have been shut out of the policymaking process by the Republican-controlled Congress, a group of Democratic senators Tuesday convened an unofficial "oversight" hearing to lambaste the US Environmental Protection Agency's new rule regulating power plant mercury emissions. "This is a hearing that the [US] Senate ought to be conducting," said Sen. John Kerry (Democrat-Masschusetts). "Unfortunately, it has walked away from its oversight responsibilities." Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in the food chain, particularly in fish. Kerry and the other senators accused the White House of ordering EPA to issue a weak rule in order to please large energy companies. Sen. Hillary Clinton (Democrat-New York), said the Bush administration asked the energy industry what the emissions targets should be and then "worked backwards" to get there. Clinton lamented that Republicans are turning Washington into an "evidence-free zone where science doesn't matter, only ideology." Among Tuesday's witnesses to testify was Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept of Environmental Protection. McGinty said the rule, in addition to endangering public health, also deals a "potentially severe blow" to her state's economy by "putting up unfair market barriers and promoting the use of coal mined in the West." The administration defends the rule, which uses a cap-and-trade approach similar to the acid-rain program, as the best way of reducing power plant mercury emissions. It also says that it would be useless to impose more stringent regulations on US power plants, since most domestic mercury depositions come from overseas sources. This story was originally published in Platts Electricity Alert http://www.electricityalert.platts.com
Copyright © 2005 - Platts
Please visit: www.platts.com
Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.