'Clear Skies' plan: the battle heats up

The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (whose members install and maintain much of the pollution-control equipment in the US) favors Bush's Clear Skies Act. "It requires $52 billion in investment to meet air-quality standards, a significant portion of which will be paid in wages to boilermakers and other union craftsman," says union lobbyist Abraham Breehey.

State and local pollution-control officials point out that great gains have been made under current law since its initial passage 35 years ago: Emissions have been cut by 50 percent at the same time the nation's gross domestic product was increasing 176 percent and population grew by 39 percent. That means the cost of doing business in this country, as measured by pollution, has dropped considerably.

At the same time, these officials point out, power plants remain a major problem - more so under "Clear Skies" than under existing law. "We have tremendous concerns with the fact that this proposal strips away many of our most essential Clean Air Act tools and authorities," said John Paul, supervisor of a six-county regional air pollution control agency centered in Dayton, Ohio.

"Given the serious deficiencies of this legislative proposal, we believe that continued implementation of the Clean Air Act will provide far greater, and more certain and timelier, protection of public health

and the environment," Mr. Paul told a recent Senate hearing, speaking on behalf of agencies overseeing pollution-control efforts at the state, territorial, and municipal level.

Shortly after Paul's testimony, Senator Inhofe directed the organizations to submit financial and tax records. Organization officials and Senate Democrats say this is a blatant attempt to intimidate witnesses critical of the administration measure.

Earlier this month, the attorneys general of 10 states (New York, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Vermont) wrote to Senator Jeffords that passage of the Clear Skies measure "would mark the first time in the history of the Clean Air Act that Congress had weakened the statute, thereby consigning the country to dirtier air and increased levels of acid rain and disease."

Among other things, they complained that the proposal exempts many older power plants from installing modern pollution controls as part of any substantial upgrade. The measure also fails to deal with carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas thought to cause global warming.

While such complaints may be legitimate and worthy of debate, it did not go without notice that all 10 attorneys general signing the letter are Democrats.

At the moment, the Senate committee is deadlocked on the Clear Skies bill. Another vote has been scheduled for early next week.

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