I bet the next change in this law is not alowing use of fireplaces... or the camp fire in the woods.

Then we will hire 30,000 government workers to drive around and issue tickets....

"The newly leaked document is one of the most controversial of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. It addresses a broad sweep of regulations governing international investment and reveals the Obama administration's advocacy for policies that environmental activists, financial reform advocates and labor unions have long rejected for eroding key protections currently in domestic laws.

Under the agreement currently being advocated by the Obama administration, American corporations would continue to be subject to domestic laws and regulations on the environment, banking and other issues. But foreign corporations operating within the U.S. would be permitted to appeal key American legal or regulatory rulings to an international tribunal. That international tribunal would be granted the power to overrule American law and impose trade sanctions on the United States for failing to abide by its rulings."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/obama-trade-document-leak_n_1592593.html

No the next change will be using drones to spy on citizens, companies to see who is complying with laws. Oh, that is right, the government under this president is already spying on farmers out west to see exactly what they are growing.

Obama being Obama ... he just cannot hide it any more. He is obsessed with government control and environmental extremism. Where does it end .... the backyard barbecue ?

Big layoffs for the coal industry. But, that's ok. It doesn't affect any "Blue" states.

BAMA's crack down on coal period !!!!

It also kills the ( what is left of our ) steel industry . Coal and Coke go by-by. We all know that the industry will never spend the bucks to install the scrubbers and such to clean up the smoke from them. Look out power plants you are in the cross hairs now !!!!

Yes the power plants are in their cross hairs, and are the main target of the attack on this so called clean air act. But however all the steel mills throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania owned by the Russians will be left alone.

Indeed, if we don't do something about the air we breath: It will Kill you...

If we do away with the EPA and Obama care we can all die of cancer without any insurance. Sounds like another great Republican solution. Maybe we should just outlaw Republicans? Their brains are already dead so we wouldn't be losing anything.

Just what we need right now - more onerous regulations that will cost jobs and raise energy prices.

Why can't we wait until we start to have a job recovery before we implement more job killing rules?

Ed Peters "Indeed, if we don't do something about the air we breath: It will Kill you..."

All of those expensive new regulations that 'do something about the air we breath' will not protect us because the so-called 'cleaner air' blows out to sea within a few hours - to Africa.

By the way - we get our air from China, with those thousands of cheap energy coal-fired plants.

Just look at a map of trade winds and you'll see what I mean.

@roy wilson, you know about trade winds that's all you can say. I've been watching the EPA and Clean Air Act since it all started in the Mid 1970s. It was quite a meeting that scientist and the Senate had and it was televised. It was a massive undertaking to even get started. Ever wonder bout that cataletic converter on your car? It was the first thing done. I remember people buying new cars, having the the converter removed and a muffler put on. That went away very soon as it was made illegal to do it.

The article said we could have trade sanctions held against us. Where? because of EU there isn't any trade much going out from here to there for a while. To build the new Scrubbers will put a little work out there for a while. Installing them more people, and some money will move around. This will remove 2 particals per cubic yard of exhaust. Really doesn't sound like much, but when you apply the math to it, it's a fair amount.

These amounts of particulet matter were probably schedualed for the 2020 requirements anyway. This is one of those schedualed events that will be pulled out of the file cabinate and be signed into Law. The bill to be brought out is schedualed in the Clean Air Laws and it doesn't matter who the President is, He Will Sign Them and it will be public announced that it has been done and that is written into the law itself.

If you really are so worried about clean air, than why aren't cigarettes banned? Oh, I remember to much of a money making business. Also be hard for the president to ban something he does himself, it's always selective to what will benefit him, and his campaign. Quoted in this article, "It's on the same order of magnitude" as secondhand smoke, said Kurt Straif, director of the WHO department that evaluates cancer risks.

So you would support a ban on cigarettes, sadielady? Great; I'm all for it.

Hasn't been really a serious discussion by nonsmoking presidents either, so your singling out Obama is partisan.

Of course the libertarians/repubs would probably call it a ban on freedom anyway.

I live in Ohio and something must be done about the pollution from coal fired plants and other industrial pollution. The corportions dont pass the savings on the their customers, but they do pass the profits on the their shareholders who get even richer on the backs of the people who breate their pollution and drink toxic waste that is in the water.

To all the people who claim that corporations are people have their have rights, I belive that claim when Texas excutes on of them.

I'll make these corporations a deal. The EPA will drop the plan for increased regulation but corporations and their BODs will pay all of the bills, medial treatments and disability payments of everybody who gets sick and people who have children with diseases and birth defects because of industrial pollution. The corporations will also pay to restore the inviroment that their pollution causes. Just to be sure that they don't welch on the deal we will set up a trust fund that they will fund with 750 billion dollars a year.

It is time that we start to think as a society instead of everyone trying to get rich on the backs of someone else and then wonder why people are sick and kids have strange diseases. The US claims to be a Christian country so why don't we start to live as Jesus taught and do unto others as they want us to do to them.

Great for the environment, what the hell about the people of this country?!? Why can he not have better legislation proposals than this?!? The economy sucks but let's worry more about the environment. Great direction.

Well, good luck buying food soon. Those horrible trucks that bring it to your grocery store will be outlawed. Your breath is already a toxin and controlled by the EPA so if mass people die of starvation or from lack of electricity to keep what's left of the food cold it will greatly improve the environment. Great plan by the environmentalists, they have a win-win.

oh please, get a grip! people are not going to starve because uber rich corporations have to spend what would be a drop in the bucket to update their gas guzzling, poison-spewing trucks! i just don't understand everyone here! you're more interested in MONEY than your own health! what good does it do you to have money if you're sick all the time! i just met someone who came into the store where i worked and her father had just died from Black Lung Disease! i asked her if he had ever worked in the coal industry and sure enough, that's where he worked! what if it was YOUR father dying young because the corporations treated him like pond scum.

i agree with epistmologist-ya'll spout your religious rhetoric and all those right wing politicians can't stop pointing at themselves and saying 'look! look! i'm a good christian boy! everybody look at me!' and in the next breath they condemn the blacks, the mexicans, conservation, equal rights, women....the list goes on. maybe you're willing to sell your soul to the corporate pharasees for 30 pieces of silver, but i'm not. i will continue to fight for clean air and clean water and freedom for everyone, not just white, upperclass, christian, hetersexual men and the women who follow them like sheep.

Roy Wilson--

Please provide a source--should be easy if there are many--that shows that we get a significant amount of polluted air--and specifically soot--from China.

Actually the government is looking for revenue by fining those not complying. So the more hoops a company can jump through, the more potential the revenue for the government.

Gentilmen, let's see if I can put somthing in prespctive here. It was about 35 years ago when the Clean Air Act was started. Practicly the entire populance of this country wanted something done and did nothing but complain about the air. It was really bad. The people of the day were your parents and grandparents. The ultimate goal of the Clean Air Act is 0 particles of harmful matter. Today you and your family enjoy cleaner air. If you live in NYC or LA it is still cleaner that it would have been if nothing was done. If 1 particulate is moved from one class to another people have to be notified. and it all has to be public and above board. Everything is in time framed steps, due to technolagy to be developed. I'm not sure when it is schedualed to be 0 but it will probely be in you grandchildrens times. You shouldn't be disrespective of what your family members have done for you. Today we are a passing face in the crowed but one time we all knew who we were what and what we did.

Enough of the drama. We have made HUGE advancements and steps in cleaning up our industries. But as the EPA is currently set up, it is IMPOSSIBLE to ever make them happy. They will continue to change the rules, standards, benchmarks, etc. And as such, misguided individuals such as yourself will always be making mountains out of mole hills, driving out more industry and more jobs. We have done 10 times more than other industrialized nations to provide clean air and water, but you want to make it seem as though we have made no improvements these last 40 years.

If our air is so dirty for you and your family, move to China, or India, or Russia for a year then I guess you can come back when you've had enough.

Well STex, while you are busy patting yourself of the back for such "huge" , cough, cough, improvements in air quality there are MILLIONS of Americans who are suffering serious ailments from fine particle pollution! The occurance of these respiratory problems have GREATLY increased in the last two decades and have resulted in thousands of pre-mature deaths from Asthma, COPD, Heart attacks, Strokes and Congestive heart failure as a DIRECT result of INCREASED levels of fine particle pollution! These new soot standards should have been implemented decades ago, but have been consistantly pushed aside by big industry lobbyists who couldn't care less how many people they kill! Just because we have made MODERATE improvements in air quality in SOME industrial areas, doesn't mean that we should stop worrying about clean air all together! One of the Biggest REASONS for our SLIGHT improvements in air quality in a few geographic locations has been the complete dissappearance of several industries that have moved overseas! And I know what you are going to say here, "Well if they would remove all of these regulations, those industries would still be here". right? WRONG!!! This loss of industry is NOT RELATED in ANY WAY to air regulations! The few clean air regulations we already have have not hurt ANY industry! I do, however, want my children and grandchildren to be able to grow up with clear lungs and healthy air to breathe! If YOU don't want to breathe clean air, then I suggest that YOU go live in Russia or China and tell us how great it is to have NO air quality standards!

They keep changing the rules in the middle of the game. It's called job security.

Who said anything about wanting NO regulations? The point is what is "clean air" for you? There is still particulates and other "harmful" gaseous substances in the air from volcanic eruptions 20, 30 and 50 years ago. How is that American industries fault and why should they be penalized and to responsible to clean up natural and organic events? What is enough for you? I'd really like an answer so we can begin to have a discussion, but until you can state what EXACTLY you will deem "clean", we have nothing to discuss.

So there should ONLY be nitrogen and oxygen in the air? Well, then I don't know how to tell you this but YOU are contributing greatly to the "dirty air" every time you fart and I'd thank you to stop emitting methane into the air for MY children to breath ... good grief. You libs and tree huggers are so over-dramatized.

When Carbon Dioxide is made a "dangerous substance" by the EPA, then you know there are no more rules and there is no way anyone can ever win this game, which no doubt is by design so as to perpetuate redistribution of assets and wealth and to essentially move us BACKWARDS technologically so that others can "catch up" and assume the leadership role we used to maintain.

STexan,

From the article "EPA had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do this," per Frank O'Donnell, head of Clean Air Watch. How dirty is the air around a coal-fired plant? My small Indiana town is characterized by streaked cars, streaked roofs, and streaked house siding. And this is an improvement from when I first moved here when many morning skies were yellow.

I virtually gag everytime I see the TV commercials spouting about 'clean' coal. Ask the Louisville KY neighborhood which now finds itself downwind from a soot settling pond and storage facility. This collected soot can be milled into lamp-black, a commercial colorant used in plastics and rubber. However, just like freshly plowed dry soil, it has extremely light particles that get everywhere, and plow everwhere.

Likewise, we have some 'good-ole boy' kids who think its a real great joke to defeat their diesel pickup's pollution controls and spew such a volume of soot into the air as the block vision for a block.

So you tell me how much clean air do we need? Of course, if you're from the Houston area, you may never have smelled it or not seen it.

I keep hearing lost jobs, lost jobs, poor corporations. How about found jobs, found jobs, need corporations to create things to clean up this mess. Do you think products like the catalytic converters to clean 'some' of the pollution cars create just made themselves? Yes, coal producers would need to purchase new equipment which some other company created. MORE jobs and better air! I look at the old movies and see how far we used to be able to see and can't anymore because of pollution. We DO need a way to clean up our air and guess what, that would CREATE jobs.

WI had an opportunity to create over 2,000 jobs this year but the dems said no way. It was in the mining industry. This tactic by dems was one to thwart Walker, but the citizens saw through this sham. Many private union members voted for Walker because they were promised these jobs and thus lost the opportunity to get paid very well because of the dems refusing to consider legislation to change mining regulations.

I am afraid you simply cannot have it both ways. The objective should be for the government and industry to work together and find a working compromise for the era we are in. The government cannot be the enemy as it is now. I want clean air, water, etc. I have myself been an environmental activist when I worked hard on a local level to clean up polluted streams. However, when the president cites job creation he also includes mining, oil/gas and then turns around and hammers them in the media as evil doers.

Environmentalists have way too much power and have become fanatics at the expense of very good paying jobs. I am thinking that if you can't find work, and you are starving your family, this cannot be good for your health either.

We must do what we can to clean up our environment. However, our president has been very idle until election time approaches. Now it is one press conference after another.

Pollution is no problem, it will all just go away. And didn't y' all know that all that smoke and toxic fumes just goes up into space? LOL!

Let's really increase the reg's on companies. Then they can all move to China, use their coal generated electricity to make things to sell here and we can breath their coal emissions a week later. Not to worry, no one will have jobs except the government workers driving around looking for the last manufacturing plant still making something.

ok pal i suppose you remember "trickle down" economics and the rest of that republican non sense that got us where we are today u repubs sold us out to china and the rest of the world for cheap labor long before Obama took office and now look the Union busting gov of wisconsin will have another chance to set the future for all working class Americans You either own the corp or work for the owner and he sets your pay rate and health care pension forget about it invest what savings in one of his buddys 401 programs good luck

A home that is worth 50% of its top value

Your home was never worth what you paid for it. That's called the Free Market. When prices become unsustainable (too high), they whip back toward the other side of the pendulum (too low). Eventually they will settle at their fair market value.

You overpaid; stop blaming anybody but yourself and get over it.

The bubble burst. Once you are no longer in denial you will be able to open your eyes.

Also, the stimulus had nothing to do with your complaint about being unemployed and saddled with an overpriced property.

O'bamaintirsh,

Let's examine your situation in view of what Obama is responsible for.

You are unemployed, join the club. There are alot of us in that boat. I am unemployed because the company that I worked for decided to move production to Mexico and China. Where labor rates were $2 and $1 per hour respectively, as opposed to $12/hr in southern Indiana. This decision was made before Obama's election. Most other employers in this area are involved in either the automotive or building materials industry. Many of those in the auto sector would be unemployed were it not for the Federal help in reorganizing GM and Chrysler. There was NO PRIVATE money to rescue or rebuild either company out of bankruptcy. With them out of the market, the supplier market would have collapsed. This could have totally crippled the entire country.

You are underwater on your mortgage, again welcome to the largest club in the country. As boom!reason told you, you paid too much. You were excited to have something for yourself and your family; and suspended reason as to what that thing was really worth. And if you paid more than $100k for the building you really overspent. And if you didn't know what the labd was worth, you overspent.

You are "in debt to your ears". And how is this Obama's fault? Did he personally force you to buy a house you couldn't afford? Force you to buy a new car or boat you couldn't afford. Force you to buy clothes, groceries, or toys you couldn't afford? Did he personally give you cancer (one of the leading causes of personal bankrupty in the US) or some other illness?

Obama is one man. Our President yes, but still just a man. He cannot give you a job. Get on that bus and find one, or at least quit blaming him because you can't.

You are brainwashed into thinking that Obama's EPA is killing jobs, it is NOT. More land and sea are open to oil and gas exploration than every before. Many lease-holds have gone unexplored for years. The gas industry touts the cleanliness of its product, but refuses to discuss or disclose its 'frakking' process other than to say that it is safe. Tell that to the people of Ohio. Or to west Texas farmers denied water for crops and livestock, so that it can be used and poisoned in 'frakking'. ELEVEN states are suing the EPA to be MORE AGGRESSIVE in Clean Air Act enforcement. Kentucky has banned mouuntain top removal coal mining and has threatened to sue West Virginia if it permits such mining along their border. Coal mining is intrinsically dirty, coal transport is intrinsically dirty, and coal burning is intrinsically dirty; no mere words can make coal clean, but words on TV are cheaper than safer cleaner mines; safer cleaner transport or safer cleaner burning.

Seriously? You made my point Boom, it's always blame someone with this administration. Nothing has ever been his fault. You would like to tag the bush admin with the mess obama has right? What about the mess clinton created? That economy was in a tail spin for 2 years while we had to wonder what Bill Lewinski 'clinton" was doing? Bush had to take action for it, and whether you want to admit it or not, the Markets and employment were moving along just fine. Who gets credit for that? The point is he is a do nothing president. He had the world at his feet, a congress and senate to mandate his every action. And what has he to show for it? a potential health care plan, that probably will go by the unconstitutional wayside in another month and a 5 trillion dollar debt. Im all for spending a little money to get things up and running, but this economy is sputtering at best. Gas prices can't be blamed, they have been at these levels for 2 plus years so we are accustom to this. Inflation is zip, interest rates are zip, so it is easy for states to borrow money to grow infrastructure which creates jobs. His congress passed a major bill creating a flood of money for states and municipalities and it's gone and there are no results. Two states that have gone from a democrat to republican governorships have been crucified for their 'changes' and each has created a surplus, albeit small a far cry from the huge deficits from their predecessor. Wisconson and Michigan. And guess what are fair union/democratic representatives want! A refund! Get real, the first moment a little extra in the coffers and those freaks want to pi$$ it away like there is never going to be a day when the belt might need to be tightened. Thats the problem with the left, once the line has been crossed their is to be no reconcilliation on their part no matter how bad the rest of us are hurting. Gimme my damn pension and health care, and don't you dare ever ask for a dime of it back! Not my problem, go find me more money! And in the case of Wisconsin, once they brought the unions to their knees they went and fired up a recall! Why? Because they didn't get their way....nothing illegal was done, but recall nonetheless. It's gamemanship 101! If I lose, I want a recount, if I still lost I want a recall. It never ends....take take take! LIke I said Hope and Change, we got change and now we can Hope for his days to be ending in 4.5 months!

Bill,

this is where we may have an agreement. First off Im not unemployed, second my home isn't even underwater. however, you have people believing everything they hear from mainstream media, that is "blame someone for your woes"! And that is exactly what our "LEADER" does. He is at a point now where he doesn't even take credit for anything he supposedly has done. IF he is so damn proud of his record why isn't he speaking of it?? Health Care ? He won't touch it with George Bushes pole! THe 'spending' he has done? IF it has done anything why won't he take credit for it? His budgets? Not one passed, and he had a majority for his first 2 years! Where is his change that has improved anyones condition? More folks on food stamps, unemployment is not recovering at a typical recession pace. This God awful mess we were in just 3 years ago is no worse than it was in the early 80s and we saw strong signs of economic growth within 18 months of Reagan taking office. This time isn't any different, and yet the media will have you believe it was. The only difference is we get it beaten into our heads 24/7 we have no choice but to believe in it! I take responsibilities for my home purchase, it's called oops bought at the wrong time, but its value means nothing. It still does what it did 8 years ago and im not selling it so why complain?

My whole point with my original post is why hasn't he taken ownership for anything in these 3 years? Blame your predecessor all you want, but sooner or later a leader has to take ownership for what he has done and start leading this country and believing it is truly the best country on the planet. No one is feeling that right now. At least with FDR, he had you thinking things were better......even when they weren't! This president has given no hope only change...his best HOPE is to bring along Dillary and take her as a VP.

You would like to tag the bush admin with the mess obama has right?

As I often point out, no single individual has the power to screw up the economy. Did Bush cause the housing bubble to crash? As I have mentioned in other threads, no he did not. The structural issues with our economy span decades over successive decisions. One can point to a probable origination of our ills, but not a single cause.

Simpletons like to believe that there is a single individual, a scapegoat, who can be blamed for all ills of some sort. For you, Obama caused the economic crash. Not only is this impossible, as he was sworn in after the crash was well underway, but silly. On the sole basis that he belongs to the "other" party, you believe that he, or any other member of the "other," is out to destroy the country. Same with the "other" party believing about "your" party.

It's all silliness. How immature can you partisans be? Learn about the system before spouting off.

Read my lips, a president is not God. A president is not King. A president is the "CEO" of 1/3 of the government's power. "Activist judges" are 1/3 who view something as unconstitutional, and challenge it according to what is constitutionally expected of them. People should be lauding "activist judges" for policing the constitution. The House and Senate control the last 1/3 of the governmental power. They write laws, they pass laws, and they can overturn a Presidential veto.

Now that I am unemployed

First off Im not unemployed,

Which is it? You can't even keep your story straight.

unemployment is not recovering at a typical recession pace.

Why don't you take a look at historic trends in unemployment after recessions. The effects last an average of seven years.

early 80s and we saw strong signs of economic growth within 18 months of Reagan taking office.

And if you take a look at the cause of the boom, you'd learn that Reagan had nothing to do with it. Indeed, you hold him in high regards due to your rose-tinted glasses that you were given by the "lame stream media." Fact: he raised taxes; he increased the national debt at a greater pace than during any peace-time period in US history. Look at his record objectively, and you'll see that he was a terrible president whose legacy was saved due to the luck of being president during an economic boom. Recall that a president does not have the control over the economy that you think they do.

The only difference is we get it beaten into our heads 24/7 we have no choice but to believe in it!

You have no idea how much you personify that statement. It's laughable at how little self-awareness you have.

FYI: I'm not a supporter of Obama. But I'm also not a support of Mitt. You see, they are both different sides of the same feces. Hell, they're not really all that different! A pig in lipstick...

@Boom, your right, this recession started in 2007 and should be over in 2014. On the world trade issue I don't think any body could have seen this coming in EU. I feel that people need to realign there thinking to be world wide as far as jobs go here in the US.

Like you say it is historically documented that when things are bad for a long time people want a scape goat just look at what Adolph Hitler did.

Reducing pollution will destroy America??? Seek help Kota, the fumes have already impacted your brain.

Is this just another opportunity for you to vent? I fail to see how reducing pollution (poison) in the air is anything but good for America.

Personally, I believe that gullible, sensationalist idiots are the ones hell bent on destroying America.

As the right loves to say, this is America. Love it or leave it! If you don't like this change, you are free to leave.

Of course, this really changes nothing since if you bothered to read the article you'd know that 99% of precincts already conform to those standards.

My family has been in this country since long before it was a country, and we have fought in every war since the Revolution for the freedoms we enjoy now. I have no intention of leaving.

I will however gladly vote out the CHANGE. In November.

I will however gladly vote out the CHANGE. In November.

Good luck on that. You'll need it. I'm no Obama supporter, and I will be voting against him in November, but I still realize that he'll win.

What freedom have you lost. Name one.

Well, let me explain it to you Kota... because you obviously don't see the 1:1 relationship that exists between cheap energy and economic growth. Coal-fired power plants are already closing across the country because of increased regulation by this administration. More are slated to close in 2015. Wholesale power costs are skyrocketing as a result (some states like Ohio, hit the worst, are seeing huge increases). As always, those increases will be passed on to consumers. That will have direct negative affect on every company, municipality, and consumer that uses electricity. Higher costs will mean losses of public and private sector jobs, and even less consumer spending (similar to what we're already seeing due to the drain put on the middle class by high gas prices). In other words, more Obama failed economic policy. The boy is obtuse and learning disabled.

@Kota, if any body is a Nazi here it is you. People who point fingers and call names are worse than what they are claiming. Heck for all I know you just could be a terrorist trying to stir up the kettle. I can kill a terrorist and not bat a eye and not feel a thing. You wouldn't want me to think that of you, would you?

I love the way liberals gripe about the ever increasing prices that they are the cause of. More regulations cost money, and they are going to pass those costs to you, what part of that dont liberals get.

If we dont get Obama out of there he is going to destroy this country.

Is there any reason a filtering system can't be engineered in these smokestacks?

They are filtered. Typically referred to as "scrubbing."

Can anyone say, "CON JOB!!!!!!!" They are now wanting to control soot, which is nothing more than molecular carbon. it falls to the earth within a few hours and harms nothing..... What a waste of resources in an effort to destroy our ability to make energy from fossil fuels...

Wow - did not know that. Wonder then if they could cool the smoke making the particles fall to a....ah screw it, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Snow job - You are full of Manure! "it falls to the earth within a few hours and harms nothing" This is total BULLSHlT!!! Fine particle pollutions KILLS thousands of Americans every year! Why do you think the occurance of Asthma, COPD, pulmonary-related heart attacks and strokes have HUGELY increased in the past two decades??? FINE PARTICLE POLLUTION!!!!! Thats why! The American Lung Association has been pushing for these new standards for YEARS now, but have been overrun by industry lobbyists! This new regulation is WAY OVERDUE! It should have been done decades ago!...

There is no evidence that fine particulate resulting from coal-fired power plant emissions kills people. The fine particulate we are talking about are sulfates and nitrates resulting from SO2 and NOx emissions. From 1990 to 2004 criteria emissions (those that directly or indirectly impact human health) decreased by 30% while asthma rates doubled. Power plant SO2 and NOx emissions in 2010 were 49% and 42% LOWER than in 2005, largely due to the Bush Administration's Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). Yet there has been no documented decrease in asthma rates or improvement in public health resulting from the $50+ billion power producers spent retrofitting SO2 scrubbers and SCR NOx control equipment. This should come as no surprise since the EPA's key assumption that "all fine particulate has an equal impact on human health regardless of or not it is a carcinogen or particulate morphology" contradicts DECADES of research on the impact of cigarette smoke on human health.

SLEcoman,

There may be no evidence that it kills people, but I can tell you that it is hell on car finishes, house paint, etc. And soot is NOT pure carbon, it will carry traces of elements like iron, tin, arsenic, even radium or uranium depending on the coal source. And by the way, we do have evidence that excessive pollution does affect and even kill life, the still-dead forests and lake of eastern Canada and the hundreds of Londoners killed by smog in the early fifties. And as a smoker myself, I can't believe that you even mentioned any cigarette research.

The term 'soot' in the article is not 'soot' as it would be defined in the dictionary and, in fact, the word 'soot' is nowhere to be found in the regulations. The National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) is for fine particulate. Fine particulates in the atmosphere are due to natural (e.g. sulfates blowing in from the ocean or man-made (e.g. sulfates resulting from SO2 emissions reacting with water vapor in the atmosphere) causes.

Coal-fired power plants used to emit lots of fly ash (e.g. extremely fine dirt entrained in the coal) but fly ash emissions have been very effectively controlled for decades using either electrostatic precipitators (giant electronic air cleaners) or fabric filter baghouses (giant vacuum cleaners).

Since 1990, the primary EPA focus has been on reducing SO2 and NOx emissions since these gases, once emitted, become fine particulate in the atmosphere. SO2 is controlled with SO2 scrubber; NOx with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) NOx control technology.

If you see a picture of a coal-fired power plant with a clear stack, then it does NOT have an SO2 scrubber. If you see "smoke" pouring from the stack, then the power plant has an SO2 scrubber. The 'smoke' is actually condensing water vapor; stack gas water vapor content increases dramatically as it flows through an SO2 scrubber.

You are absolutely correct that air pollution can very adversely impact the environment and human health. My point is that there is no evidence that reducing fine particulate concentrations below the current NAAQS will provide any health benefit to society.

The damage to car paint finishes and staining of houses is probably due to sulfuric acid mist. One of the side effects of installing SCR NOx controls and SO2 scrubbers is that there is more sulfuric acid deposition and damage near the power plant. The EPA has a polite bureaucratic term for this effect; its called a pollution control disbenefit.

@snowdragen, These particle have an acid effect that you will notice in time. Some of these particles are so small they stay in the air and come down with the rain hence Acid Rain.

haterofstupid - You must REALLY hate yourself, huh? Whining about other kinds of pollution is a pitiful excuse to continue YOUR polluting! Boo Hoo! I want my children to be able to breathe withouy oxygen tanks...

Bassman, do you ride a bike everywhere you go,(don't dare lubricate the chain with grease)and use no electric, use a crank flashlight(since it would be hipocritical to burn a candle) and never cook anything with gas? How do you stay warm in the winter? If you've ever used a fossil fuel for your own comfort, you really have no valid complaint. It's easy to justify the amount of fossil fuel you want to use, isn't it? Nothing personal, just making a point.

ok, joe, I hope to hear how much you're enjoying paying your energy bills this winter. The threat against coal was promised and the blow was delivered. I have a Buck stove in my home which will serve nicely; maybe others should consider this also.

trinitygal,

I hope you also understand that your Buck adds to the cost that must be paid by coal-burners. Air is sampled from AREAS, so if you are burning wood or coal near a sampling area, it will raise the requirements on the power plant.

Just like the idiots in my neighborhood who sit in the backyard, in summer, in 80+ degree heat, with a bonfire of split firewood.

Joe, according to the US EPA, US coal-fired power plants were only responsible for 4% of mercury deposition in the US in 2004. Now it is probably ~3% due to the collateral mercury emissions reductions associated with $50+ billion of SCR NOx and SO2 scrubber retrofits resulting from the Bush Adminstration's Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR).

According the federal government's own data, there is no correlation between mercury deposition and location of coal-fired power plants.

Joe,

Your argument that installing pollution controls creates jobs is another example of the "Broken Glass Fallacy" first brought forth by Frederic Bastiat in 1850. It's easy to see the jobs created by installing and operating pollution control equipment; it's hard to see the jobs lost due to higher electric rates. For example, in 1980 there were 34 operating aluminum smelters in the US; now there are 6 or 7. And either the primary or sole reason these smelters closed was higher electricity prices.

Since 1990, $100's billions have been spent reducing air pollution dramatically. But asthma rates have doubled during this same period of time. Yet, the EPA continues to propose more of the same solution.

"One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results" - Albert Einstein

As an asthmatic, I am sick and tired of the government continuing to pretend they are solving a problem when they don't even know what is causing the dramatic increase in asthma rates. Both the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the CDC say they do not know why asthma rates have doubled in the last 20 years.

The government needs to stop wasting money on a solution (more control of fine particulates) that doesn't work and instead it needs to spend money finding out why asthma rates are increasing. Once we know the cause for the asthma epidemic, then we can proceed with coming up with solutions.

I hate to burst your ignorance bubble, but Obama has kept more appointees from a previous president than any other president in history.

Typical libturd. Texans, Republicans love pollution, old dying, young dying, etc. F#cking morons.

Get a job.

Howlin'MadMac,

Exactly which new rules? Maybe the ones that say a bank can't take your money, buy insurance that you wouldn't be broke without it, and then use your money to buy something it knows is worthless, leaving you and the FDIC holding the bag?

As to new rules from the EPA, the EPA IS STILL ENFORCING RULES FROM 1997. Bill Clinton was President. Eleven states are suing the EPA to update its standards, as required by the Clean Air Act passed into law under and proudly signed by Richard Nixon.

The Keystone XL pipeline was stopped when the Republican governor of Nebraska sued due to its routing through the largest aquifer in North America. And by the way, construction is not border to border but rather from South Dakota to north Texas. Canada meanwhile is burning its natural gas to turn the sand into crude oil. And the Canadien owners of this oil have already announced that it will be loaded onto ships at either Texas or Louisiana for shipment to Europe and Asia.

Instead of howling, try reading and listening to sources other than FOX, Limbaugh, Beck and the energy companies' adverts. Do you honestly think the Koch brothers are concerned about you?

Yes, cause everything is about jobs and money. Screw the planet while you're at it! Chinese people have to walk around their cities with masks because of the thick smog and bad polllution. But don't worry, that's what you want for your kids and family!
LESS REGULATION....LET'S POLLUTE!

Rosso, as much as I can appreciate what are probably your good intentions, air is air. Unless every other country in the world is gonna make a change it's pointless to just do it here. Just like the ocean debris from the tsunami in Japan is now reaching the U.S. so does the air from around the world, but a whole lot faster. You can't compare the U.S. to China, because we don't have to wear masks here, so you just sort of defeated your whole point. Unless you ride a bicycle everywhere and have NEVER used fossil fuel as an adult you have no gripe. Even if you drive an electric car, that electricity was still generated by a power plant somewhere. People who jump on the regulate air emissions bandwagon never want to address their own contributions to air pollution. I'm guessing you don't live in an area or have a job that is affected by our beloved Commander in Chief's policies. It's not just about jobs, it's about survival. Without industry in America, what are you planning for the kids you mentioned to do for a living? You ought to be more concerned about the stuff in food and the fact that pharmaceutical companies come out 10 years after they been pumping out a drug and then say, oops, sorry, this drug causes cancer.