Clear Skies Act

Bush Clear Skies Act S.485 2.1 million ton cap by 2008 1.7 million ton cap by 2018 4.5 million ton cap by 2010 3 million ton cap by 2018 34 tons per year by 2010 (trading allowed) 15 tons per year by 2018. Sources can avoid emission reductions through mercury emissions credit trades No limit on CO2 emissions Would practically eliminate new source review for new and existing power plants Would eliminate visibility and interstate air pollution protections, delay attainment of NAAQS and repeal power plant air toxics controls... 

See Testimony of David G. Hawkins, Director, NRDC Climate Center, Hearings on S. 385, Clear Skies Act of 2003 , U.S. Senate Committee on Environment Public Works, Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate Change, and Nuclear Safety, April 8, 2003 National Environmental Trust http //www.cleartheair.org/mercury/mercuryhurts. 

A passing cold front is heralded by clouds, a drop in temperature, and precipitation cooler air and clear skies occur behind the cold front (see Fig. 4-15b). The slower moving warm front is characterized by a more gradual lowering of cloud heights, followed by rain or snow (Fig. 4-15a). As air masses pass, so do their burdens of airborne chemicals. The clouds and precipitation formed along the front act as sinks for certain atmospheric chemicals because of rainout and washout processes. These processes, which remove particles, gases, and dissolved chemicals from the atmosphere and deposit them on Earth s surface, are discussed in Section 4.5. 

The National Energy Plan calls for a reversal of the Clean Air Act s New Source Review program (targeted in Clear Skies) assumes the need to build at least 1,300 new power plants, mostly fueled by coal and natural gas, over the next 20 years excludes carbon dioxide from a three-pollutant power plant emissions policy and interferes with pending Clean Air Act enforcement cases by ordering a Justice Department review. ... 

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