Chellie Pingree: “I thank my colleague from Florida for his eloquent words and for allowing me a moment to speak on the floor. Madam…”

“I thank my colleague from Florida for his eloquent words and for allowing me a moment to speak on the floor. Madam Speaker, the TRAIN Act will repeal two critical clean air standards: the proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule for power plants that burn coal and oil. I'm from the State of Maine, and Maine is the tailpipe of the Nation for most atmospheric pollution. Nearly 130,000 people in Maine have been diagnosed with asthma. Yesterday in my office, I met with a wonderful young man named Jake, one of 28,000 children in the State of Maine who suffer from asthma. I also met with his parents, small business owners who struggle to pay more than a thousand dollars a month in insurance and medication to keep Jake healthy. Since 1970, the Clean Air Act has saved hundreds of thousands of lives and decreased air pollution by 60 percent. Implementing Clean Air standards will mean fewer kids and parents will struggle with life-long costs of dirty air. Improved standards will also mean reducing the amount of mercury and toxins in the air and water. In 2000, the government determined that major coal-burning entities are the single largest source of manmade emissions of mercury in the United States. It's estimated that 6 percent of women in the U.S.…”