MPBN news story by Keith Shortall
Maine environmentalists are celebrating a decision today by the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld a provision of the federal Clean Air Act aimed at protecting states from the air pollution generated in neighboring states.
Dylan Voorhees of the Natural Resources Council of Maine says the rule had been overturned by a lower court, but the law court has now had the final say on a rule that the EPA estimates will bring $280 billion in health benefits per year.
“That includes 34,000 premature deaths that could be avoided by this rule every year,” Voorhees says. “Those are national numbers, but those are staggeringly large benefits to our air quality, and all of the eastern United States is going to see the greatest benefit.”
The so-called Cross-State Air Pollution Rule requires 28 states to reduce power-plant emissions that impact air-quality in states located downwind.
