Critics say pollution report falls short

By Associated Press · Winston-Salem Journal

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A 10-year study on air pollution in Southeast national parks and wilderness areas released by the Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative falls short of forceful recommendations on reducing power-plant emissions, according to environmentalists. Stephen Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy cited EPA analysis showing that the toughest anti-pollution strategy would cost households only about $12 annually. The report pledges state support for national legislation to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions but provides no specific targets or timelines.

an analysis by the federal Environmental Protection Agency of the toughest anti-pollution strategy considered by SAMI participants concluded that the annual increased energy cost would be about $12 for each household
Stephen A. Smith

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Critics say pollution report falls short

Ten-year study focuses on air impurities in 8 states in the Southeast

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHARLOTTE

A 10-year study of air pollution plaguing the Southeast's national parks and wilderness areas falls short of forceful recommendations on reducing power-plant emissions in the region, environmentalists said yesterday.

"People agree this is the world we live in, and this is what it looks like," Don Barger, an official with the National Parks Conservation Association, said of the final report of the eight-state Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative, or SAMI. "We were not able to come to consensus on what path to take out of it."

The 172-page report is to be formally released Thursday at the SAMI's final meeting in Asheville. States that participated in the voluntary effort are North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Also involved were federal officials, environmental advocates and representatives of affected industries.

The study focused on air quality in the southern Appalachians' two national parks — Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah — and eight wilderness areas: Cohutta, James River Face, Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock, Linville Gorge, Shining Rock, Sipsey, Dolly Sods and Otter Creek. Congress requires that such areas be protected from new sources of air pollution.

The group's final report contains a pledge that the eight states will support national legislation to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from power plants.

Sulfur dioxide is a primary ingredient in the haze that often blankets the southern Appalachians and in acid rain. Nitrogen oxide is a major component of smog.

However, the report contains no recommendation on how soon emissions should be reduced and by how much, saying only that national legislation "should result in no less than the reductions ... represented by the (Bush) Administration's Clear Skies Initiative."

The White House's proposal would cap total output of sulfur dioxide, mercury and nitrogen oxide and allow utilities to trade pollution credits. Under the plan, which has been criticized by Democrats and environmental groups as unfair and inadequate, emissions of each substance would be reduced by about 70 percent by 2018.

Stephen Smith, the head of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said that an analysis by the federal Environmental Protection Agency of the toughest anti-pollution strategy considered by SAMI participants concluded that the annual increased energy cost would be about $12 for each household.

The environmentalists said that SAMI's studies showed each state is its own worst polluter.