Mark Pryor: “I would like to commend my colleague from Tennessee and his leadership when it comes to clean air. He has a long history…”

“I would like to commend my colleague from Tennessee and his leadership when it comes to clean air. He has a long history for fighting for clean air in Tennessee in this country, and we share the common goal of maintaining a safe and reliable source of electricity, but also one that is safe for human health. Cleaner air means better health for Arkansans, for Tennesseans, and for everyone in the entire country. This all started back in 1990 with some Clean Air Act amendments signed by President George H.W. Bush authorizing EPA to regulate air pollutant emissions from powerplants. These regulations have been two decades in the making. As I said, it started back in 1990, and a lot has changed since then. But one thing that has improved greatly since then is technology. These clean air rules try to make these coal-fired powerplants 90 percent cleaner. They can now achieve that 90 percent reduction from uncontrolled emissions of mercury and other pollutants because of technology. We have the ability to make this achievable today. I don't know if that was true 20 years ago, but it is certainly true today. I would like to visit with my colleagues for the next few minutes about the plan Senator Alexander has put forward in which I heartily join him. It is a three-step plan: First, vote no on Senator Inhofe's resolution that we understand will come up sometime in the next several days.…”