Political Quotes

“it is one thing to say things and it is another to say things that are true. Let us review some of the things that have been said on the floor of the Senate today in the context of this discussion. One of my colleagues said that this rule, which will for the first time require our powerplants to meet mercury emission standards that other industries have had to meet, and have successfully met for years, is now coming on, to use his words, ``too far and too fast.'' The Clean Air Act was passed 30 years ago and, specific to this, in the year 2000 EPA began the process that has culminated in this rule determining that it would be appropriate and necessary to have a rule on this kind of hazardous air pollution being emitted by powerplants. Here we are in 2012 and we are being told that it is too fast that utilities are obliged to comply with a program that was first announced as appropriate and necessary in the year 2000. It would seem to me that a dozen years' notice is enough, particularly where other industries have already met these standards. On that note, the same colleague said that compliance with these standards is ``nearly impossible.'' It is obviously not nearly impossible if other industries have already complied with the standard with which the electric utility industry is being asked to comply. More specifically, this rule sets the mark at a level where the highest performing 12 percent of emitters already are. They are already there.…”