John Rice Carter: “This amendment should really be called the ``Moore veto amendment'' because what it effectively does is veto this bill.…”

“This amendment should really be called the ``Moore veto amendment'' because what it effectively does is veto this bill. I would point out that Paul Valberg, former member of the Harvard School of Public Health, testified before the Energy and Commerce Committee that by every public health measure, from infant mortality to life expectancy, we are healthier today and exposed to fewer hazards than ever before. Our present-day air is much cleaner than it was a year ago, and our air quality is among the best in the world. H.R. 2681 does not change or modify any existing public health protection. It simply sets forth a process for EPA to implement stronger protections as called for in the Clean Air Act that are achievable, and the issue here is achievability. Standards in this act are set in such a manner that it's going to take time to achieve these emissions. As we pointed out, the EU, which is supposedly one of the standards of the world on air and water quality, has set a standard that ours is five times less onerous than the one that is being imposed by the EPA; and, arguably, the industry says meeting that standard is going to take more technology and more time. This bill simply directs the EPA to follow the language of the Clean Air Act statute and write standards that real-world cement plants can meet. It may be the EU standards are the standards they can meet. I am not here to make that determination.…”