|
|
|
|
Air Quality Politics
12/06/2002
Listen in RealAudio 
The air over the Northeast this summer was some of the unhealthiest ever recorded. New England
has been called the exhaust pipe of the United States, because most storm tracks, whether they
start in Seattle or St. Petersburg, exit through the region.
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook.
At a recent New England press conference I asked Governor Jeanne Shaheen what is being done to
combat the problem.
Shaheen: The New England Governors and the Eastern Canadian Premiers have been working
jointly for a number of years now to address both acid rain and air pollution coming into the
region and are working on global warming as well and it's very clear what's got to happen if
we're going to clean up the air in this region is that we need to address the dirty power
plants in the Midwest that are sending us their air pollution.
According to Shaheen, action ultimately must come from Washington.
Shaheen: We need to see the EPA vigorously enforce the provisions of the Clean Air Act. I am
very concerned about their proposed rolling back of the new source review standards in the
Clean Air Act that would govern those dirty power plants when they get upgraded. We need to
make sure that they have to clean up just as other power plants here in the Northeast
do.
Bryan: So who in particular is keeping this from happening?
Shaheen: Well I think that it's the utility lobby and the coal and oil lobbies in Washington.
It effects not just our quality of life, but it's a health issue as well.
The Weather Notebook is produced by the Mount Washington Observatory, with support from Subaru
of America and the National Science Foundation.
|
|
