The 2005 Energy Bill, passed April 21 by the U.S. House of Representatives, holds great implications for our nation's gasoline and energy resources. Recent debate regarding the bill has centered on the decision to allow drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Buried deep within the tangled network of energy jargon and political agendas is a provision, inserted under the subsection \Miscellaneous,"" which could have the most drastic impact on clean air standards in over 15 years of legislation.
The provision, altering the Clean Air Act, would allow areas whose air pollution comes from surrounding communities to delay meeting national air quality standards until their neighbors have cleaned up their act.
Though seemingly innocuous, this simple provision could have dire consequences for the quality of United States air. The most highly impacted area would likely be the Northeast, an area in which nearly every state could blame its pollution on offending neighbors.
The provision states that ""downwind"" communities would not have to meet national air quality standards until their ""upwind"" neighbors have already done so.
Proponents argue the provision adds flexibility to current standards, letting communities avoid placing especially strict regulations on power plants and cars.
In a recent press release, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, called the bill ""a big, bipartisan vote ... [that] will turn the tide and offer relief to both our economy and our national security. This is a bill about jobs, growth and opportunity.""
Democratic and environmental group opponents, on the other hand, resolutely assert that the provision falls short of its intended purpose and fails to positively contribute to attempts to clean up dirty air. Opponents claim the bill will merely exacerbate already acute air problems that plague the country. The bill, they say, is also an attempt to undermine a recent EPA rule, which set stringent standards on power plant emissions in the Eastern states.
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, declared the bill a missed opportunity to enhance conservation and development of renewable resources.
""Rather than emphasizing clean air requirements and encouraging development of alternative renewable domestic energy, it seeks mainly to feed America's unsustainable addiction to fossil fuels,"" he said.
In a statement on her website, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, called the bill a mistake and said that ""rather than insisting on cleaner air and water, this bill gives energy producers license, even funding, to further pollute the environment.""
