George Bush Wants to Tie Roy Cooper’s Hands

The Bush administration apparently does not appreciate N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper’s aggressive efforts to clean up air pollution, as it’s attempting to take away a legal tool that Cooper and attorneys general in other states have used to target power plants that are fouling the air, BushGreenwatch reports.

The administration’s so-called “Clear Skies” initiative – reintroduced in the U.S. Senate last week – would weaken the interstate air pollution remedy process, known as Section 126 petitions. A state that fails to comply with Clean Air Act standards can file a Section 126 petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to take action against out-of-state sources that are contributing to its air pollution problems.

Cooper filed such a petition against plants in 13 states last March, and attorneys general from Northeastern states have filed similar petitions against plants in the Midwest and Southeast.

When the EPA acts on a Section 126 petition, it usually gives the polluters about three years to clean up stack emissions. But Clear Skies would block any Section 126 fixes until 2014. And after that, states that want to file Section 126 petitions would first have to show they’ve tried every single more cost-effective measure to reduce pollution – a requirement that environmental advocates say would be virtually impossible to meet.

For more details, visit the BushGreenwatch Web site.