PSEG Supports Quick Congressional Action on Clean Air in Wake of Court's Rescinding of CAIR
30 July 2008 - 12:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
Power company says impact is 'significant and substantial' and
calls for multi-pollutant legislation NEWARK, N.J., July 29
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eric Svenson, PSEG's vice president of
environment, health and safety, testified today before Congress
about the implications of a recent federal appeals court decision
that struck down the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air
Interstate Rule (also known as CAIR). CAIR would have resulted in
dramatic reductions in particulate matter and ozone and helped to
eliminate smog, asthma and other chronic and acute respiratory
effects. Clean air and public health are threatened in its absence.
Svenson told the Senate Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee
that the impact of the ruling would be "significant and
substantial" and called for Congress to act quickly to pass
multi-pollutant legislation like that championed by subcommittee
chairman Senator Tom Carper (D-DE). He said the rescinding of CAIR
and the continued implementation of a patchwork of state and
regional programs governing carbon dioxide have created "a chaotic
regulatory environment." PSEG believes that legislation addressing
the four major power plant pollutants -- nitrogen (NOX), sulfur
dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and mercury -- is critical for
ensuring timely public health and environmental benefits, business
certainty, and a level playing field for the electric generating
sector. Svenson urged Congress to restart the legislative
discussion and quickly pass multi-pollutant legislation, saying
that the electric sector "needs certainty." CAIR would have
resulted in considerable public health benefits as well as
increased industry investment in pollution controls. With the
rescinding of CAIR, "we are stuck with an inefficient, more
expensive system with significant public health costs and much less
environmental benefit," Svenson told Congress. "The ruling
threatens to tie the hands of the EPA as it tries to find
economically efficient and effective methods to improve public
health and our environment," Svenson said. He added that the ruling
leaves "a huge regulatory hole." Go to the "news" section at
http://www.pseg.com/ to see Svenson's written and oral testimony in
its entirety. Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) is a publicly
traded diversified energy company with annual revenues of more than
$13 billion, and three principal subsidiaries: PSEG Power, PSEG
Energy Holdings, and Public Service Electric and Gas Company
(PSE&G). PSEG Power, one of the largest independent power
producers in the U.S. has three main subsidiaries: PSEG Fossil,
PSEG Nuclear, and PSEG Energy Resources & Trade. PSEG Energy
Holdings has two main unregulated energy-related businesses: PSEG
Global and PSEG Resources. PSE&G, New Jersey's oldest and
largest regulated gas and electric delivery utility, serves nearly
three-quarters of New Jersey's population. DATASOURCE: Public
Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) CONTACT: Jenn Kramer,
+1-973-430-7734, for Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) Web
site: http://www.pseg.com/
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