Political Quotes

“Today the assault on the environment in this body continues. Two weeks ago the House voted to repeal the health standards in the Clean Air Act and block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating toxic emissions from power plants. Earlier this week, we voted to block EPA from regulating toxic emissions from cement plants. And yesterday we voted to block the EPA from regulating toxic emissions from incinerators. Today we'll vote on whether to stop EPA from regulating toxic coal ash. On December 22, 2008, a coal ash impoundment in Kingston, Tennessee, burst, releasing 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic sludge, blanketing the Emory River and the surrounding land and creating a Superfund site that could cost up to $1.2 billion to clean up. Last year, EPA proposed regulations to ensure stronger oversight of coal ash impoundments in order to prevent disasters like the one in Kingston and to prevent groundwater and drinking water from the threat of contamination. Today we are voting to stop EPA from acting. The agency had proposed two alternatives for regulating coal combustion residuals: One proposal was to regulate these wastes under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA, as a hazardous waste. The other proposal was to regulate under subtitle D of RCRA as a nonhazardous solid waste.…”