Saturday, April 02, 2005

Northeast fights back against Bush administration pollution policy | csmonitor.com

Northeast battles its status as US 'tailpipe' | csmonitor.com: "A slew of Northeastern states, claiming that the Bush administration's new rules on mercury pollution do too little, too late, have initiated challenges demanding tougher restrictions.

Long considered one of the most contaminated regions, as pollutants travel 'downwind' from the industrial Midwest and beyond and settle in New England, many of these states already have tough regulations in place but say much more needs to be done.

In the most recent move, New Jersey and eight other states - five of them in New England - filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the federal government, contending that the new rule fails to protect children and pregnant women from toxins released into the air.

The suit is the latest example of states joining forces to take on the Bush administration over standards that they claim favor business and undercut environmental protections.

In New Hampshire last week, a bill passed in the Senate that would reduce emissions from state plants more aggressively than the Environmental Protection Agency mandates - following similar moves in at least three other states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut. In Maine, politicians are harshly criticizing the rule and demanding more information; a coalition there has called for a congressional inquiry."

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