Defend Clean Air and Oppose the TRAIN Act

Americans are resisting the TRAIN Act (H.R. 2401) ahead of a House floor vote which is expected on Friday September 23rd 2011. If passed, the TRAIN Act will sacrifice tens of thousands of lives, pollute the air, and expose children, families, and communities to toxic air pollutants that cause illness and developmental disorders.

The NRDC considers the Train Act to be the most deadly bill in House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s Pro-Pollution Plan.

The TRAIN Act spawned a biased committee of cabinet members to review the costs of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health standards. However, it completely ignored the economic and health benefits of the EPA's health stadards.

Since its inception, the TRAIN act has been amended to make it even more deadly for Americans. The amendment from Rep. Whitfield (R-KY) would permanently block two life-saving clean air safeguards: the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which curbs smog and soot pollution from power plants that crosses state lines, and the Mercury and Air Toxics standards, which limit mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants.

The Republican plan would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from re-issuing the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule for a minimum of 19 months, and any Mercury and Air Toxics standards for a minimum of 15 months.

The amendment also eliminates any actual deadline for the EPA to re-issue standards. This repeals current law, which has imposed firm deadlines for EPA to issue air toxics standards for polluting industries. Blocking the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and Mercury and Air Toxics for just one additional year would result in:

up to 25,300 lives lost;
more than 11,000 heart attacks;
more than 120,000 asthma attacks;
over 12,200 more hospital and emergency room visits; and
many hundreds of thousands more days of missed work or school.
the bill’s lengthier minimum periods of delay (15 & 19 months) would result in up to 33,450 premature deaths.