Green Elephant Line Media Backgrounder

Republicans Popping Up with Strong Environmental Legislation

April 14, 2009

Democrats may have their hands on all the levers for making environmental policy, but that hasn't stopped Republicans from introducing or co-sponsoring strong legislation to help America make better, cleaner energy choices.

Below are three examples of legislation that reflect the truly conservative ethic of stewardship.

Acid Rain and Mercury Control Act
Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) introduced a bill to move the ball forward significantly in cleaning up coal-fired power plants. The bill calls for 75 percent reductions by 2012 in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are linked to acid rain and unhealthy particulate pollution. The bill also calls for a 90 percent cut by 2013 of mercury, a pollutant linked to neurological and kidney disorders.

McHugh's bill would put an end to "grandfathering," a loophole that has allowed decades-old power plants to operate without modern pollution controls. Currently, such plants can be forced to clean up through the Clean Air Act's cumbersome "New Source Review" process. New Source Review, unfortunately, has been a full employment act for utility, government, and environmental organization lawyers, who have gone round and round through the nation's courtrooms litigating over what New Source Review requires.

McHugh's bill would simplify matters greatly by requiring that power plants clean up within five years after his bill's enactment or when the plants turn 30 years old, whichever is later.

McHugh's legislation also would clear up uncertainty caused by court rulings that overturned two air quality rules adopted by EPA during the George W. Bush administration.

Appalachia Restoration Act
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and a number of Republican House members are GOP co-sponsors of legislation that would effectively end the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.

The bills would amend the Clean Water Act to bar the disposal of mountaintop removal spoils into streams and rivers.

Companion House legislation is co-sponsored by Congressmen Mark Kirk (R-IL), John McHugh (R-NY), Todd Platts (R-PA), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), and Frank Wolf (R-VA).

Mountaintop removal is exactly what it sounds like. Coal mining companies blast mountains apart to get at coal seams, and then dump the "overburden" into nearby stream valleys. Mountaintop removal has buried more than 1,000 miles of streams and disfigured at least half a million acres of mountain terrain in southern West Virginia and neighboring states in the central Appalachians. Mountaintop removal has disrupted rural communities, degraded property values, and damaged the scenic beauty that is a prime economic asset for the region.

In announcing his co-sponsorship of the bipartisan bill, Senator Alexander correctly noted that Americans spend millions of dollars visiting the Appalachians to enjoy the mountains' scenery and wildlife. Mountaintop removal is unnecessary for ensuring America with adequate supplies of coal, since it accounts for less than 5 percent of total U.S. coal production.

Open Fuel Standard Act
Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Bob Inglis (R-SC) have been leaders in calling attention to the economic, environmental, and national security dangers of overdependence on oil. They are co-sponsoring legislation that would require that by 2012, half of new cars sold in America must be able to operate with biodiesel, or with alcohol-gasoline mixtures made up of 85 percent ethanol or methanol and 15 percent gasoline. Making cars "flex-fuel" capable would cost only about $100 to $200 per car.

Today, the U.S. transportation system is almost 100 percent dependent on petroleum, a strategic liability because a substantial share of world oil production and an increasing share of oil reserves are located in unstable and/or unfriendly parts of the world. While oil usage fell in 2008, consumption totaled nearly 20 million barrels per day, two-thirds of which was imported and one-third of which originated from countries in the OPEC cartel. Gasoline accounted for 46 percent of total petroleum demand.

As Congressman Inglis noted last year, developing new domestic oil fields won't accomplish much if the global oil market is still controlled by OPEC.

Gasoline, the dominant source of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, accounts for one-sixth of all U.S. emissions of heat-trapping gases. Increased biofuel use is a promising component of a strategy to diversify America's transportation fuel mix and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.