Pollutants pose health risk

They’re in the air we breathe, the fish we eat, the clothes we dry-clean. Toxic emissions from power plants and other industries can cause all sorts of human maladies if left unregulated: asthma, heart problems, cancer, brain defects in babies, even death.

The Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to ensure clean air and water. Yet the Bush administration too often has looked the other way, preferring to give potentially polluting industries the benefit of the doubt.

A federal appeals court in Washington put President Bush on notice last week by temporarily blocking an administration rule that sought to bypass Congress and relax regulations on aging power plants, refineries and other industries. The burden’s now on the administration to show that its radical policy change can be done without congressional approval. Bush’s rule change, which would have taken effect Dec. 26, allowed old plants to upgrade equipment without having to install pollution controls.

Yet those plants have had decades to improve their emissions without meeting the requirements that new plants must meet for sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides. Predictably, the rule change came out of recommendations from Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force, a rubber stamp for the industry. In August, the General Accounting Office found the EPA used anecdotal evidence from industries it regulates to support the rule change. Outrageous.

Environmental protection continues to be a high priority for most Americans. Bush may have gotten that message just in time for the 2004 election, which makes one wonder about his sincerity. His Clear Skies Initiative, unveiled this month, now proposes to create a program to reduce high levels of toxic nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide through a market-driven incentives program. History shows us, though, that the market too often puts profits ahead of people’s health unless there’s government vigilance.

Mercury from power plants also poses grave risks, particularly to pregnant women and young children. High levels of mercury, which can cause brain damage, have been found in fish in Florida and other states. A CDC national study found that one in 12 women of childbearing age had mercury levels above the EPA’s safe-health marker. Yet the Bush administration has proposed reducing mercury emissions by only 30 percent, instead of the 90 percent reduction needed for safe levels.

Another example of a do-nothing climate in this White House involves the suspected carcinogen perchloroethylene that 30,000 dry cleaners use. In 1993, the EPA set PERC standards required by the Clean Air Act, which allowed eight years to evaluate those emissions and toughen standards if necessary. Two years have passed since that deadline, and still no word.

How much longer should America’s health be put into jeopardy?


Myriam Marquez is an editorial page columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Her e-mail address is mmarquez@orlandosentinel.com.