In 2010 alone, the Clean Air Act prevented more than 1.7 million asthma attacks and saved $110 billion in healthcare costs. By 2020, it will have saved over 4 million lives. But the Bush Administration blocked for eight years many of the regulations that should have been issued.

The Obama Administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working hard to create strong new regulations that will prevent deaths and illnesses from asthma, cancer and other diseases. These regulations also create jobs by spurring investments in the design, manufacture, installation, and operation of pollution-reducing technologies. In fact, many power plants and factories slated to receive pollution-reducing upgrades are located in the same highly industrialized regions where unemployment is particularly high, and jobs installing or operating pollution controls at American facilities cannot be sent abroad.

In addition to saving lives in the short term, strong regulations can, for the next decade, have as much impact in reducing climate-disrupting pollution as we could have achieved by passing the comprehensive climate bill last year. With legislative prospects dim for many years to come, these regulations hold the key to slowing climate change pollution.

Progress So Far

Car & Truck Fuel Economy Rules – Over the last few months, President Obama has announced that the major car makers have agreed to a series of tough new fuel efficiency rules that will reduce global warming pollution as much as shutting down 72 coal fired power plants. The rules will require each carmaker to average 54.5 miles per gallon for the passenger vehicles it sells by 2025, nearly double today’s mileage requirement.

Mercury & Air Toxins – The EPA has issued a rule to reduce mercury and other air toxins from power plants, which are the single largest source of mercury and arsenic pollution. This rule is expected to prevent 11,000 premature deaths each year.

Cross-State Air Pollution Rule – In July, the EPA finalized regulations setting stronger limits on toxic air pollution from power plants that contributes to smog and fine particle pollution that travels across state borders. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will make it easier for states in the eastern half of the United States to protect public health. This rule is expected to save about 34,000 lives every year.

Work Ahead

Affected industries are spending millions of dollars to pressure the Obama Administration and Congress to block or weaken other rules. We expect serious fights over these in particular:

Greenhouse Gasses – Within the next several months, the EPA will issue the first-ever rules aimed specifically at reducing greenhouse gas pollution that contributes to climate change. The rules will require power plants and oil refineries to reduce dangerous carbon or greenhouse gas pollution by updating their facilities to minimize their emissions. The Administration will be under great pressure to stop this rule from being released, and we will need to urge them to stand strong.

Mercury from Boilers – After power plants, industrial boilers are the second largest source of mercury and air toxin pollution. The EPA is still finalizing its proposal to regulate toxins from boilers, but some in Congress have already proposed legislation blocking it.

Our Message to Policymakers: Fight for strong EPA rules to protect many thousands of lives in the near future, and hundreds of millions of lives and trillions of dollars that will otherwise be lost because of climate change in the years ahead. These are both the right thing to do and the politically smart thing to do. Surveys show overwhelming public support for strong clean air regulations, and Democrats are helped, not hurt, by showing they are willing to stand up to Big Coal, Big Oil, and other polluters.

December 2011