President Bush Plans to Rollback the Clean Air Act
Announced Changes will Mean Increased Pollution in Michigan

For Immediate Release: June 16, 2002

Contact: Lana Pollack; 517-487-9539 Dan Farough; 517-484-2372

The Bush Administration has announced its plan to weaken air quality protections in the Clean Air Act. This plan, if it goes into effect, will cripple the Clean Air Act, by creating new loopholes that will allow Michigan power plants to emit thousands more tons of air pollution each year.

"Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of air pollution in Michigan and these changes will allow them to pollute even more" said Lana Pollack, President of the Michigan Environmental Council. "The end result will be more asthma attacks and premature deaths due to air pollution."

"Currently, air pollution triggers 270,000 asthma attacks across Michigan. Pollution from power plants alone leads to 800 premature deaths every year in our state." Said Elliot Levinsohn of the American Lung Association in Michigan.

Despite this, the Bush Administration's plan will weaken the Clean Air Act program, New Source Review, that requires antiquated power plants to install modern pollution control equipment when they make significant changes that increases emissions.

"First, the administration lets Enron write the energy plan and now they are rolling back clean air standards to further reward the energy industry." said Dan Farough of the Sierra Club Mackinac Chapter. "Unfortunately, these rewards come at the cost of our children's health."

New Source Review has been instrumental in regulating power plants. Coal-fired power plants still emit between four to 10 times the pollution of modern facilities and these new changes will unnecessarily extend the life of these old dinosaurs at the expense of newer, cleaner forms of energy.

Today's announcement will create loopholes that will allow these facilities to expand without installing modern pollution control equipment. These proposed changes can mean up to 100,000 extra tons of pollution into Michigan's air each year. This does not even count the thousands of extra tons that will come into Western Michigan from Chicago, Gary and Milwaukee.

"Almost 2 million children in Michigan live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant. They need to know that pollution will decrease. It appears the administration want s to head in a different direction." Said Vicki Levengood of the Michigan Chapter of the National Environmental Trust.

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