OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt asked the court for a green light to abandon stronger clean air protections against Texas coal pollution today by placing mandated and long-overdue Clean Air Act standards to improve air quality on hold yet again. These protections, which are already a decade overdue, would have given his home state of Oklahoma billions of dollars in public health-related benefits. These benefits would save Oklahomans more than $771 million annually by preventing more than 2,100 asthma attacks, 78 deaths, and 9,400 missed workdays that are caused by pollution from nearby Texas’s coal fired power plants.To address the problem, Congress required this pollution reduction to clear the skies at places like the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
Pruitt now seeks to cast aside part of the Texas regional haze plan, which requires states to develop plans to clean up pollution and improve air quality at national parks and wilderness areas. In addition to protecting America’s wild areas, the rule also provides significant public health benefits that would save lives and preserve outdoor experiences for communities and individuals hoping to enjoy nature.
“Scott Pruitt just made it clear that he plans to abandon the residents of his home state to placate Texas polluters who don’t give a second thought about Oklahoma families or its natural places,” said Johnson Bridgwater, director of the Sierra Club’s Oklahoma Chapter. “Since taking his post, Pruitt has made clear over and over again that he isn’t the Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, he is a servant to coal companies eager to find ways around our environmental safeguards to make a buck.”
A plan to clean up pollution from Texas coal plants is already more than a decade overdue and despite numerous opportunities, the State of Texas refused to produce a meaningful plan to clean up pollution from coal plants and other industrial sources. In response, the EPA developed a plan for the state while under court order. The agency released a strong proposal in 2016 that cut down on the massive amount of air pollution created by Texas’ coal fired power plants and would dramatically improve air quality in the entire region, especially in Oklahoma. After the multi-year process, Administrator Pruitt had the opportunity to finalize the plan by September 9, but has instead asked the court for another year and a half delay while Texas and EPA create an unlawful pollution trading program that allows polluters to continue the status quo rather than complying with the Clean Air Act. Meanwhile, communities in Oklahoma must continue to suffer under the haze of Texas’ pollution.
Pollution from Texas’s outdated coal-fired power plants and other sources drifts across state lines and affects scenic views and public health in Oklahoma and across the region. Coal plants in Texas emit more pollution than coal plants in any other state.
“Every visitor to our national parks and public lands deserves clean air and clear views,” said Stephanie Kodish, director of National Park Conservation Association’s clean air program. “With this action, EPA is using our public lands as garbage bins for collecting air pollution instead of treating them as the iconic places they are, belonging to all Americans. We oppose any delay beyond the September 9th deadline and urge the EPA to finalize and implement the already long-overdue pollution cleanup.”
While the regional haze plan primarily addresses sulfur pollution, Texas coal plants also spew large amounts of nitrogen oxide pollution into the air, raising levels of smog in places like Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Oklahomans get more orange and red alert days, which means air is unhealthy to breathe every summer because of Texas power plants. Even more alarming, as a result of Texas’ failure to comply with these clean air standards, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality just added 14 lakes to its list of waterbodies with fish containing high levels of mercury. Texas coal plants are the largest group of mercury emissions in the entire United States.
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About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters nationwide. In addition to creating opportunities for people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful outdoor experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.org.
About National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.3 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s natural, historic, and cultural heritage for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.