On the recordSeptember 22, 2011
I thank the gentleman. I want you to listen to this, Mr. Chairman. The cost of meeting the emission reductions was actually 75 percent less than what EPA had originally predicted in 1990, and it was far below what opponents had claimed. But there are still a number of provisions of the Clean Air Act that have never been implemented, and now we have much more scientific and medical evidence to inform our decisionmaking. We know that a drop of mercury can poison an entire lake. We know these things now. We know the harm of mercury and toxic chemicals. We know how much is coming from power plants. The rule for power plants is long overdue. It's been in development for close to 20 years. If one wants to talk about uncertainty, how about allowing certainty by letting EPA finalize its rules on mercury, on air toxics, and on cross-State air pollution. Then we will protect the health of our people. Then our plants will know exactly what is expected of them. The fact is municipalities do this for their waste recovery plants and their medical waste incinerators. They are required to do it. And no municipality ever went bankrupt over this regulation. And medical wastes are disposed of today in a safe and reliable manner. We can do this, we should do this, and we should defeat this bill.
