HEARINGS ON THE NEED FOR MULTI-POLLUTANT LEGISLATION

The testimony by the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) urges the U.S. Senate to oppose the Clear Skies Act (CSA), claiming its emission caps for sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury are too weak and implemented too late to protect public health and the environment. CATF presents modeling showing that alternative proposals, such as the Clean Power Act, would result in significantly fewer deaths by 2020 with negligible increases in retail electricity prices. The document further argues that CSA fails to address carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and would effectively repeal critical Clean Air Act provisions, including New Source Review and visibility protections for National Parks. It concludes that the EPA already possesses the authority to achieve greater gains through existing rules like the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and mercury MACT standards.

• The Clear Skies Act (CSA) provides pollution reductions for sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury that are insufficient to protect human health and the environment, whereas alternative proposals offer significantly greater health benefits that outweigh their costs by $14 billion to $34 billion annually.
• Under the CSA, 33 million people across 27 counties in states including Georgia, Ohio, and Illinois would still be breathing air that fails to meet national soot and smog standards by the 2010 attainment date.
• The CSA does not include limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants, despite the U.S. power sector accounting for approximately 10% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions and 40% of domestic emissions.
• The CSA would dismantle several key protections of the Clean Air Act, including the New Source Review (NSR) for power plants, visibility protections for National Parks (BART), and the requirement for Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards for air toxics.
• Claims that a shortage of skilled boilermakers would prevent the implementation of more stringent emission deadlines are unsupported; EPA data suggests the available labor pool is sufficient to meet the requirements of more aggressive proposals like the 2001 "Straw" proposal.

APA

Schneider, C. G. (2005). HEARINGS ON THE NEED FOR MULTI-POLLUTANT LEGISLATION. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093316/20050126-CSA_CATF_EPW_subcommittee_testimony.pdf

Chicago

Schneider, Conrad G. HEARINGS ON THE NEED FOR MULTI-POLLUTANT LEGISLATION. Clean Air Task Force, 2005. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093316/20050126-CSA_CATF_EPW_subcommittee_testimony.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Schneider |first1=Conrad G. |title=HEARINGS ON THE NEED FOR MULTI-POLLUTANT LEGISLATION |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=26 January 2005 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093316/20050126-CSA_CATF_EPW_subcommittee_testimony.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{schneider2005hearings, author = {Schneider, Conrad G.}, title = {{HEARINGS ON THE NEED FOR MULTI-POLLUTANT LEGISLATION}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2005}, month = jan, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093316/20050126-CSA_CATF_EPW_subcommittee_testimony.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }