Court Strikes Down EPA Inter-State Air Pollution Rule – What It Means for NJ

(source: USEPA)

In  a huge blow to clean air and public health, the DC Court of Appeals yesterday struck down US EPA’s “Cross- State Air Pollution Rule”

You can check the news coverage – I am now reading the opinion and EPA rule and will provide an analysis later when I finish. (read opinion here)

For now, the above map and table speak volumes, so I want to make just a few brief points:

1) The rule would provide huge health and economic benefits to NJ

EPA estimates up to 2,000 DEATHS would be avoided – that doesn’t count thousands of additional hospitalizations for those suffering from NJ’s smog; non-fatal heart attacks, emergency room visits, respiratory symptoms, aggravated asthma and thousands of days of kids missing school and adults out of work.

EPA estimates that the rule would provide up to $17 BILLLION in economic benefits to NJ

2) Governor Christie did not support the EPA rule

Governor Christie ignored NJ’s public health and economic interests in favor of right wing ideology.

Christie sided with polluters over people.

In a radical departure from NJ’s historic policy as a downwind state – which has been to aggressively support stricter regulation of mid-western sources of pollution that harm NJ (as a member of the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC)) – Christie did not join the northeastern states who disproportionally benefit from the rule (hit this link to read the OTC’s analysis of the public health benefits).

Instead, Christie blasted EPA – Bergen Record story:

Governor Christie did not join the legal battle with other Northeast states in support of the EPA’s rule, saying last year the agency has “been overreaching and stifling to job growth and business development in this country.”

3) Larry Rangonese of DEP press office is either stupid or corrupt (or both)

Despite the huge public health and economic benefits of the EPA rule, Larry Rangonese of the DEP press office downplayed the huge impacts:

A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said on Tuesday that the ruling would not have an immediate impact on New Jersey’s air.

“We have an interest in the case, and we’ll be looking at this closely,” said Larry Ragonese, a DEP spokesman. “But we don’t think it will have a great impact.”

Now, how stupid is that? No rule has an “immediate impact”.

Governor Christie chooses ideology over NJ’s best interests and his DEP Press Office is loyal to and spins in support of the Governor’s position, regardless of the facts, the science, and the benefits.