Heidi Alexander: “I thank the Senator from California, and the Senator from Maryland especially for his courtesy. I would agree the EPA…”

“I thank the Senator from California, and the Senator from Maryland especially for his courtesy. I would agree the EPA has become a happy hunting ground for goofy regulations. But as the late William F. Buckley once said, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. And on this rule--this clean air rule and the earlier interstate rule--I believe EPA is right. The effect of upholding this rule will be to finally require that most coal plants everywhere in America will have to install two kinds of pollution control equipment: scrubbers and SCRs. This will basically finish the job of capturing sulfur and nitrogen oxides, fine particles, and the 187 toxic pollutants that were specifically identified by Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. The Tennessee Valley Authority has already committed to install this equipment by 2018. But TVA alone can't clean up Tennessee's air, because dirty air blows in from other States. So let me say what upholding this rule will do for the people of Tennessee. First, it will hasten the day when Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville are not three of the top five worst asthma cities--which they are today--and Nashville is not competing to be in the top 10. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks an article which appeared in the Tennessean this week by Dr. William Lawson of Vanderbilt University, who treats patients with respiratory diseases in Nashville.…”