The U.S. Catholic bishops have given their support to the
Environmental Protection Agency's proposed standards to limit toxic
pollution from power plants.
“Such standards should protect the health and welfare of all people,
especially the most vulnerable members of our society, including unborn
and other young children, from harmful exposure to toxic air pollution
emitted from power plants,” said Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, chairman of
the bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, in a
June 20 statement.
The EPA proposed the standards in March 2011, saying they would keep
91 percent of the mercury found in coal from being released into the air
and prevent nearly 17,000 premature deaths each year.
Since the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the EPA has been actively
reducing mercury admissions from many of the highest-emitting sources.
Until recently, however, this reduction effort did not include power
plants.
Mercury can have many serious effects on the natural environment and
on human beings.
It is especially harmful to a child's developing brain,
affecting memory, attention and motor skills. Toxic power plant
emissions can also lead to heart attacks, bronchitis and asthma.
Bishop Blaire said the U.S. bishops supported the new standards
because of the need to “care for God's creation” and protect the dignity
of every human person, “especially the poor and vulnerable, from
conception until natural death.”
Installation and operation of equipment needed to implement the
proposed standards will create more jobs for American workers, according
to the EPA.
But the new standards will come at a cost to companies and
consumers.
Bishop Blaire said that the short-term costs of implementation are outweighed by the significant health benefits involved.
He added that poor and vulnerable people should not bear “a
disproportionate share” of the implementation costs, or the effects of
toxic air pollution.