Nice to have some good news every once in a while!
From EPA's press release:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the first national standards to protect American families from power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution like arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium, and cyanide. The standards will slash emissions of these dangerous pollutants by relying on widely available, proven pollution controls that are already in use at more than half of the nationâs coal-fired power plants.
EPA estimates that the new safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year. The standards will also help Americaâs children grow up healthier â preventing 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and about 6,300 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children each year.
Environmental Defense Fund has some reasons why this rule rules:
The emission reductions in this rule will result in up to 11,000 fewer premature deaths each year.
and
The new rule will prevent thousands of heart attacks, bronchitis cases and asthma attacks. This will provide annual benefits of as much as $90 billion beginning in 2016.
Anyway, just passing along the good news.
Thanks, Lisa Jackson! Thanks, EPA! And thanks to everyone who kept pressure on them to do the right thing here.