Hightower Lowdown

Those who play by the rules . . . are doomed to lose to those who don’t.”
You won’t find this embroidered in needlepoint on Granny’s wall, but it’s the cynical principle behind George W.’s latest assault on our nation’s environment.
Christie Whitman, the head of the EPA and Bush’s official environmental hit woman, has proposed a change in the Clean Air Act that would give a financial advantage to operators of dirty power plants.

Under present law, any new power plant has to have anti-pollution devices to prevent contaminants from poisoning our air. The law also says that if an old facility is expanded, its equipment must be upgraded to meet the same clean-air standards.

But operators of these old, dirty plants routinely claim that they are not “expanding” their facilities, but merely increasing their power production through “routine maintenance” not subject to the Clean Air Act.
This is like a thief redefining robbery as a “readjustment of assets” and, therefore, not against the law.

By whatever name, these dirty utilities are still ramping up production and profiting from the increased poisons we have to breathe.
The utilities invested heavily in George W.’s grab for the White House, and Whitman is delivering the return they expect. Her new proposal accepts the industry’s “routine maintenance” scam and allows them to increase toxic emissions without installing clean-air equipment.

To fight this dirty deal, contact Clean Air Trust at 202-785-9625.