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PRESS RELEASE

 

For Immediate Release:                            Contact:

Saturday, October 27, 2007                           Paul Ertelt, (518) 449-3870,

                                                                   paulertelt@adk.org

 

HcHugh Takes Bold Step in Fighting Global Warming

WILMINGTON, N.Y. -- The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) today hailed U.S. Rep. John McHugh’s “Healthy Air and Clean Water Act” as a bold step in combating global climate change, acid rain and air pollution.

“Everybody’s talking about global warming, but Congressman McHugh is doing something tangible about this and other threats to the Adirondacks and the planet at large,” ADK Executive Director Neil F. Woodworth said. “This legislation shows the kind of courageous leadership we need in Washington, and we urge Congress to act quickly on it.”

The McHugh bill, unveiled today at a news conference at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center, would sharply reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide from the nation’s electric power plants. When introduced Monday, it will be the only “four pollutant” clean air bill in the House of Representatives.

Coal-burning power plants are responsible for about one-third of the total U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and mercury. McHugh’s bill would mandate a 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants by 2020 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050. It would also establish a market-based carbon emissions trading program to provide an economic incentive for coal-burning power plants to reduce their emissions.

“New York state’s environment is already seeing the adverse effects of climate change,” Woodworth said. “Hikers are now encountering deer ticks and Lyme disease throughout most of the state, which is a direct result of moderating temperatures.”

Climate change threatens the local economies of the Adirondacks, Catskills and other areas that rely heavily on winter sports, such as snowmobiling, downhill and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Global warming could significantly reduce habitat for brook trout and other cold-water fish in New York and leave Adirondack forests vulnerable to tree-destroying pests such as the Sirex woodwasp, hemlock woolly adelgid and the Asian longhorned beetle.

McHugh’s bill would also require a 90 percent reduction in mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by 2011. Plants that exceed the emission standard would face fines of $10,000 for each ounce of mercury over the limit.

Recent studies have linked coal-fired power plants to mercury “hotspots” in the Adirondacks and Catskills. A 2007 independent study by Charles Driscoll and the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation estimated that mercury emissions from U.S. coal-fired power plants are responsible for 40 percent to 65 percent of mercury deposition in the Northeast.

Ninety-six percent of lakes in the Adirondacks exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended level for methyl mercury in fish. Because of high mercury levels, health officials have advised women of childbearing age and children under 15 to avoid eating fish from six Catskill reservoirs.

The bill would require all power plants to cut emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide to 75 percent of 1997 levels by 2010. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are the main components of acid rain.  

A quarter of the lakes and ponds in the Adirondacks are now too acidic to support aquatic life. Acid rain also depletes calcium from forest soils, leaving sugar maple and red spruce trees more vulnerable to insects and winter kill.

Woodworth said he is particularly pleased that the bill singles out “sensitive regional ecosystems,” such as the Adirondacks, Catskills, Lake Champlain and the Long Island Sound, for special protection. By 2019, EPA must determine whether the emissions reductions are sufficient to protect these ecosystems and adopt new regulations if necessary.

“Current one-size-fits-all regulations fail to take into account the vulnerability of these delicate ecosystems and the environmental stresses being placed on them,’’ he said.

The Adirondack Mountain Club, founded in 1922, is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting New York’s Forest Preserve and other wild lands and waters through conservation and advocacy, environmental education and responsible recreation.