| The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is pushing a
new study and model bill to their state legislators in an attempt
to weaken or stop carbon dioxide (CO2) emission regulations. The
study, which links increased mortality rates with increased environmental
regulation, was financed, in part, by the Edison Electric Institute,
the National Mining Association, and the Center for Energy &
Economic Development. The model legislation, called the "Conditioning
Regulation of Non-Pollutant Emissions on Science," would require
a state environment commissioner, prior to regulating CO2, to determine
whether the regulation would have a "substantial and significant
adverse effect" on energy or fuel availability or price, and
to balance that impact against the proposal's benefits, among other
provisions. ALEC is attempting to derail CO2 emissions bills, as
many states, including California, are seeking to put in place strict
new emissions control regimes. Through the study and bill, ALEC
is trying to suggest that tough clean air rules could harm public
health by increasing energy costs (and thereby deepening poverty)
and unemployment. The study, "Mortality Reductions from Use
of Low-Cost Coal-Fueled Power: An Analytical Framework," ignores
the health impacts of global warming, such as more human fatalities
resulting from increasing summer temperatures and disasters such
as tornados and hurricanes, and the spread of tropical diseases
such as West Nile virus and malaria. The economic costs of global
climate change include devastating droughts and associated crop
losses and forest fires, the destruction of infrastructure, and
the gradual loss of fish and game species. One environmentalist
who works on state-level issues is calling the study a coal-industry
effort to broadly avoid new controls. "If you are saying that
burning more coal and dirtier air is the solution to healthier living,
you have to question the motives behind the report," the source
says. "It's obviously out to give ALEC legislators something
to use when four-pollutant legislation or any legislation limiting
coal use is debated by state legislators." Ran 1/20/03 |
