Published: February 07, 2011
Pollution Hurts Our Economy
Clean Air Act protections vastly outweigh their costs-pollution hurts our economy, not the other way around.
There are cement kilns in 38 states releasing an unregulated amount of mercury emissions. Across the U.S. in 2006 mercury was known to have contaminated more than 14 million acres of lakes and 882,963 river miles.
In 2006, 48 states issued fish consumption advisories warning citizens to limit how often they eat certain types of fish caught in state waters because they are contaminated with mercury, 23 states issued statewide advisories for mercury in freshwater lakes and/or rivers, and 12 states have statewide advisories for mercury in their coastal waters, including all states on the gulf coast and the majority of the eastern seaboard. Toxic air emissions from cement plants are the third largest source of mercury pollution in the U.S.
The Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice released information debunking Representative John Carter's (R-TX) claim that important health protections will cost the cement industry too much. EPA scientists estimate the standards to clean up toxic air pollution from cement plants would prevent up to 2,500 premature deaths every year, as well as thousands of heart attacks, emergency room visits and cases of aggravated asthma. The public health savings of the rule, which EPA estimates will be somewhere between $6.7 and $18 billion every year significantly outweigh industry's costs of compliance, which are less than $1 billion.
In their report "Dirty Air is Not the Key to Economic Growth," the groups counter Representative Carter's incorrect claims about these health protections, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued in 2010. The EPA is legally required to protect the health of American citizens from dangerous air pollution that causes premature death, cancer, asthma, heart disease, birth defects and other serious ailments. By attacking these critical, potentially life-saving protections, members of Congress are defending some of the richest and dirtiest industries in the world at the expense of their constituents. If Representative Carter's plan to block these protections is successful, many communities across the U.S. will continue to suffer from mercury and other chemical pollution from cement plants.
"There is no dispute that cement kilns are among the country's worst polluters or that eliminating the EPA's controls on their pollution, as Representative Carter seeks to do, would cause between 960 and 2,500 Americans to die prematurely every year," said Jim Pew, Earthjustice attorney. "Standing with foreign mega-corporations and their army of lobbyists, Representative Carter is disseminating blatantly false claims about these long-overdue and badly-needed controls . . . the cement industry can afford to be a good neighbor and control its toxic pollution." Jim Pew, Earthjustice Attorney, is available for interviews February 8-18 to discuss the following:
Representative Carter says that the EPA has "conceded" that the emission standards will cost 15,000 jobs.
- In fact, the EPA has done no such thing, finding instead that employment impacts from the rule will range from a potential loss of 600 to a net gain of 1,300 jobs, according to the EPA.
Representative Carter says that "industry analysts" warn that Clean Air rules could result in the "complete collapse" of the American cement industry by 2013.
- Domestic cement production will increase more than 25 percent from today's levels by 2013, and more than 50 percent by 2015, according to a November 2010 analysis by the Portland Cement Association.
Representative Carter suggests that we will lose market share to "overseas competitors."
- In fact, imports are at their lowest level since 1992, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Portland Cement Association's November 2010 report projects that imports will remain flat through 2013 and remain well below 2000-2007 levels by 2015.
Representative Carter's office has suggested that his resolution would merely postpone implementation of controls on cement plants toxic pollution, not eliminate them.
- Representative Carter's resolution would effectively prevent EPA from ever limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from cement plants. This even though cement plants are among the nation's worst toxic polluters and the absence of federal limits on their emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants directly violates federal law.
The EPA's finalized protective standards for cement kiln emissions would:
- Cut mercury emissions by 16,600 pounds, roughly 92 percent
- Cut particulate matter emissions by 11,500 tons, roughly 92 percent
- Cut hydrogen chloride emissions by 5,800 tons, roughly 97 percent
- Cut total hydrocarbons emissions by 10,600 tons, roughly 83 percent
Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxicant that can build up through the food chain and interfere with the brain and other parts of the nervous system, resulting in birth defects, loss of IQ and developmental problems. Particulate matter causes serious health impacts on lungs and breathing, including decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty in breathing, as well as heart problems. Hydrogen chloride also causes respiratory problems such as coughing, irritated nose and throat, and heart problems.
The allies of big polluters claim that health protections hurt our economy, but the cement kiln standards they are attempting to strike down would prevent 130,000 days of work missed because of pollution-related health problems. Moreover, study after study has shown that the economic benefits of Clean Air Act protections vastly outweigh their costs. Pollution hurts our economy, not the other way around. The cement industry which is dominated by huge multinational corporations-80% of the cement manufacturing capacity in America is foreign owned-has ample resources to pay for emission controls the Clean Air Act requires.
Jim Pew is a staff attorney in Earthjustice's Washington, D.C. office. He received a B.A. in history from Stanford University, a M.A. in law from Cambridge University, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Jim practiced at a private law firm in Philadelphia for three years, at the Natural Resources Defense Council for two years, and at Earthjustice for the last eight years. Jim lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and cat, and still spends as much time as possible on a bicycle.
Earthjustice (www.earthjustice.org) is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. Earthjustice brings about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
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