Group proposes ideas for clean air

Group
proposes
ideas for
clean air

Plan released for
Governor's Summit

By Morgan Simmons
News-Sentinel staff writer

A coalition of Southern environmental groups has released a set of recommendations for cleaner air in time for the Governor's Summit on Mountain Air Quality conference scheduled for Friday in Charlotte, N.C.

The report, titled "Blueprint for Breathing Easier: Southeast Energy Strategy for Clean Air," is intended to guide governors, lawmakers and regulators in their efforts to reduce air pollution across the Southeast, which suffers from some of the unhealthiest air in the nation.

"We took the governors last year at face value when they said they wanted to look at comprehensive principles for cleaning up the air," said Stephen Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "If they want a policy, here's what we recommend."

This year's mountain air summit will mark the fourth year governors from Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky have met to hammer out strategies to reduce air pollution.

Gov. Don Sundquist hosted last year's summit, held in Gatlinburg, during which the governors adopted a set of "Southern air principles."

Smith praised North Carolina Gov. Michael Easley for passing a bill requiring reductions of coal-fired emissions from North Carolina power plants. He said governors from Southeastern states - including Tennessee - have not used their bully pulpits to enact similar state-level clean air regulations that go beyond federal standards.

The report says the next step is for Southeastern states to adopt a smokestack plan for reducing pollution from outdated power plants and working together to develop a regional, multipollutant plan to protect public health.

According to the report, more than 33 million people in the Southeast region of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia live in counties with unhealthy, smoggy air.

The report says that particulate matter - tiny particles emitted from coal-fired power plants - causes an estimated 11,000 deaths in the Southeast annually and that power plant emissions have reduced visibility in the Smoky Mountains on an average day from 113 miles to 25 miles.

The report says most of the air pollution comes from the region's 167 coal-burning power plants and that reducing haze caused by these plants could add $300 million and 5,000 annually to local economies around the Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah national parks.

The report calls on states to reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants and set emission standards for nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide.

It also emphasizes energy efficiency, conservation and the use of resources such as wind and solar energy as steps toward reducing the region's reliance on coal.

"The Southeast has the opportunity to lead the nation in developing an energy supply that is reliable, economical and environmentally superior," said Michael Shore, Southeast air quality manager for Environmental Defense.

The suggestions to improve Southeastern air quality and the air quality summit follow a recent American Lung Association report that ranked Knoxville as the eighth most ozone-air polluted city in the country.

Ground-level ozone is created when nitrogen oxide emitted from power plants, automobiles and industries mixes with sunlight.

Morgan Simmons may be reached at 865-342-632 or simmonsm@knoxnews.com.