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Landmark Settlement Makes Polluter Pay

Environment New York and a coalition of states and citizen groups announced a landmark court settlement with American Electric Power (AEP) that will substantially reduce air pollution from the company’s fleet of aging coal-fired power plants. The coalition sued AEP in 1999 for violating the Clean Air Act’s “New Source Review” rules, which require power companies to install modern pollution controls when otherwise upgrading their plants.

How You Can Help

Tell the EPA to reduce smog pollution

Ozone or “smog” pollution can trigger asthma attacks and harm even the healthiest lungs, but the Bush administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed air quality standards for ozone that are weaker than what the agency’s own scientific advisors say are needed to protect public health.  Tell your senators to support the Clean Power Act to keep those standards high.

Brief Summary

Pollution from power plants are threatening our health and environment. More than half of all Americans live in areas that fail to meet minimum health standards for smog and soot. And pollution from power plants is responsible for mercury that has caused fish consumption advisories in at least 45 states.

Yet the Bush administration’s so-called "Clear Skies Initiative" would have weakened the Clean Air Act by setting pollution caps that fail to protect public health.

The rule was successfully struck down by a federal court earlier this year. In the absence of federal action many states are moving on their own to address smog, soot and mercury pollution.