About time
Like any regulatory agency, the Environmental Protection Agency has taken its share of lumps from the partisan media in the last decade or so.
But for anyone old enough to remember a time when rivers might spontaneously catch fire or smog was so thick it looked like dusk in the middle of the day, the EPA should be rightly praised for making sure that Americans have clean water and safe air, regardless of where they live.
To that end, the EPA has proposed a new set of proposals aimed at reducing the amount of toxic pollutants like mercury, arsenic, lead and selenium that are dumped into our waterways by power plants.
And while many will react to any attempts at regulatory action with a knee-jerk ideological dismissal, this is a common-sense issue. We applaud the EPA’s efforts, as it goes without saying that ensuring the safety of our waterways should be of the utmost concern for everyone — regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum.
According to the EPA, steam-electric power plants account for more than half of all toxic pollutants discharged into waterways from permitted industrial facilities in the U.S. High exposure to these pollutants has been linked to neurological damage and damage to the circulatory system, kidneys and liver. Toxic metals also do not break down in the environment and can contaminate sediment in waterways and impact aquatic life and wildlife, EPA data show.
The new regulations would decrease annual pollution discharges by about 470 million pounds and would reduce water use by 50 billion gallons.
For those who worry about regulation starving businesses, this proposal should assuage those concerns. According to the EPA, half of the nation’s coal-fired plants would be in compliance with any of the four options without incurring any additional costs. The proposals would update the current standards, which have been in place since 1982. Any new requirements would be done in phases, from 2017-2022, EPA officials said.
The proposals have support from environmental groups, although, as is expected, these groups always wish the EPA would do more. Still, these proposals are a right step toward ensuring the health and safety of those who live near power plants. After all, we all benefit from the power produced by these plants, and it is only right that we ensure that those who live in their shadow do not bear an undue burden.
This doesn’t have to be a hypothetical exercise. One only needs to look at the rampant pollution in China to see the danger of unregulated industry.
There was a time not that long ago when we had similar problems, but we’ve come quite a ways from those days. But there is still more work to be done to ensure our water is safe and our air is clean.
We can do better.
We must do better.
When it comes to reducing our residents’ exposure to toxic pollutants, there really is only one response: full-throated support.