The winds of clean air change are buffeting the utility industry.
In a decision that upholds the bible’s injunction against poisoning your neighbor’s well, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA today ordered the Portland Generating Station in Northampton County, Pennsylvania to cut its SO2 or sulfur dioxide emissions, which are harming the air quality in Warren, Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. The complaint EPA was responding to was filed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection because it was having difficulty meeting the Clean Air Act.
This was the first time the EPA has granted a so-called single-source petition. It will require the Portland Generating Station to significantly cut its SO2 emissions within three years, with a portion of those cuts happening by the end of the first year.
The EPA ruling potentially has broad implications for the future of electric vehicles in the U.S. since half of the electricity produced comes from burning coal – a notorious source of SO2 as well as CO2, which EVs allegedly alleviate. The two Portland generating units covered under this rule are large sources of SO2 emissions in the region since they are about 50 years old.
This is a national problem. Currently 44% of coal-fired units in the country do not have advanced pollution controls, such as scrubbers or catalysts, installed to limit emissions. Utilities and coal companies are and have been vigorously fighting efforts to solve the problem.
The EPA said that SO2 carried across state lines by wind and weather can aggravate asthma and cause other respiratory problems. SO2 emissions can also react in the air and contribute to harmful levels of particle pollution, which is linked to widespread illnesses, cancer and premature deaths.
“The Cross State rule EPA finalized this year and today’s action are two important steps designed to protect communities facing these exact challenges,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
“In granting today’s petition, we’re taking a common-sense approach that gives the facility flexibility to find the most cost-effective methods for cutting pollution and for helping communities in New Jersey meet the Clean Air Act standards for sulfur dioxide.”
The final EPA rule allows the Portland plant to choose the most cost-effective strategy for meeting legal air pollution limits, including installing widely available pollution control technologies.
Environmentalists say more battles are ahead in “pay to play” Washington, DC during what likely will be the most expensive presidential election in history – literally awash with billions in “contributions” from the extremely wealthy or “One Percenters” and large corporations. The proposed EPA actions taken today are similar to those that this powerplant and others would need consider taking not only to meet the recently finalized Cross-State Air Pollution Rule but the upcoming Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.
Color me skeptical. EPA in particular and the Greenies in general rely for their justifications on claims of deaths (premature, of course, but that modifier is rarely used) from this or that alleged pollutant (Cause of Death: SO poison?). It would be interesting to see if there are any death certificates attesting to this. A second question naturally is how much premature? None of this is defined, and the in-the-bag Inside the Beltway media let the advocates, government included, get away with this slight-of-hand. Shame on all parties involved in this massive fraud. The public will end up paying, one way or another, in higher utility bills, brownouts, enforced use of unreliable, range-limited electric vehicles. Take your pick.