Political Quotes

“Madam President, our country's economy and competitiveness in global markets depends on access to affordable energy resources, including electricity that powers our manufacturing plants and keeps businesses operating throughout the Nation. Additionally, affordable electricity is vital to the health, safety, productivity, and quality of life of American families, as well as keeping their budgets in check. Generating this vital power, however, has come at a cost to our public health and to the environment. Coal- and oil-fired powerplants account for about half of the Nation's mercury emissions and more than half of the country's acid gases. Powerplants also contribute about one-quarter of our Nation's particle pollution. These emissions from powerplants can cause damage to brain development, premature death, asthma, heart attacks, and other health complications with the heart and lungs. Under the authority of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, on December 21, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, announced its final rule to establish technology-based emission limits for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired powerplants, which are estimated to number about 1,400 units nationwide. About half of the electric generating units affected by this rule have already installed equipment to meet these emission limits, and many have expended large sums to get there.…”