Controversy: The Clean Air Act

Before the Clean Air Act (CAA) was passed by Congress, the Air Pollution Act of 1955 and Motor Vehicle Act of 1960 preceded it. The two acts before the CAA did not really do much except jump starting research and throwing plenty of money at the research. When the research was released to Congress from the Motor Vehicle Act, Congress found out that approximately 60% of pollution was coming from vehicles; of the pollutants that were being emitted from vehicles, the most prominent that were found were Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), and Hydrocarbons. These findings pushed Congress to pass another bill that would help to slow down pollution, especially from vehicles. However, when the CAA was passed, it did not mandate any reductions

The Oil Pollution Act was established in 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in March 1989. The Oil Pollution Act placed the Federal Government in charge of management and control of oil spills, control of containment, removal and clean up efforts. This law holds who ever is deemed responsible for the oil spill to pay for the damages, containment, and clean up of the oil spill. In accordance with OPA90, an oil spill must be reported to the Federal Government. Upon reporting the oil spill to the government, BP reported that the well was leaking 1,000 barrels a day when it was discharging upwards of 40,000 barrels a day. Every deep-water drilling company is required to have what is called a contingency plan. A contingency plan

Common-sense regulatory initiatives, developed by EPA to minimize greenhouse gas was found to be efficient. For example, EPA's vehicle greenhouse gas rules will save consumers $1.7 trillion at the pump by 2025, and eliminate six billion metric tons of GHG pollution. EPA's Clean Power Plan addresses emissions from power plants, the largest source of carbon pollution in the country. When the Clean Power Plan is fully in place in 2030, carbon pollution from the power sector will be 32 percent below 2005

The EPA works hand in hand with each state to organize and plan varies types of federal environmental programs. Each state is given the authority to oversee the federal programs as along as they encompass laws and guidelines that are at least as strict as the federal laws that are in place. The EPA has to have constant contact with state officials in order to develop health, agricultural and environmental protocols for any studies that may need improvement to meet the necessary requirements for decreasing toxics or pollution. Even though the state has control over certain aspects of the Clean Air Act they still have to comply with federal laws that are in place regarding any drinking water, storm water, waste water or solid

After a city has been struck by a storm or a natural disaster, governments have created different policies that help people during the aftermath of the storm. Climate change has had an impact on people’s lives through the years, and the Clean Air Act of 1970 was created in order to make the air that we breather cleaner, with newly enhanced technology (Obama). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created the Clean Air Act in order to reduce greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide (“Federal Action on Climate”). Just like the Clean Air Act and the EPA, the Department of Defense (DOD) helps plan consequences of cClimate cChange, in order for better global security and research on global change (“Federal Action on Climate Change”). As a response

The clean air act is regulatory act that has a purpose of monitoring and adjusting the emissions from mobile and stationary sources, like vehicles and factories. As a whole and individual states, the clean air act’s purpose in the United States is to keep the air quality clean so people can live in healthy environments with clean air. Each individual state has their own different standards when it comes to air quality. To each of the factories and power plants that follow the clean air act standards are given allowances. The places that switch over to the clean burning systems, solar power, wind power and so on, are also given these

Chevron was a landmark case that supported giving agencies protection for their policymaking decisions. The issue was if the EPA’s decision to allow States to treat all pollution-emitting devices within the same industry grouping (The United States Department of Justice). The Clean Air Act of 1977 made requirements applicable to states that had not achieved the national air quality standards (Cornell University Law School). The amendments to the Clean Air Act required the states that did not meet the standards to establish a permit program to regulate modified or new major stationary sources of air pollution (The United States Department of Justice). I feel that the Chevron rule could get eradicated during Trump’s presidency because of Trump’s

President Trump chose Myron Ebell , one of the best climate skeptics to lead his EPA transition team. Ebell also says that “everything will be just fine”. These two major people have no regards for climate change, and with the choices that they are making now, we can see the direction that this country is going in. The Trump Administration is most likely to be a disaster when it comes to the health and safety of the planet. President Obama plan is to reduce carbon pollution from power plants that take real action on climate change. After some revisions, “the final Clean Power Plan is fair, flexible and designed to strengthen the fast-growing trend toward cleaner and lower-polluting American energy. With strong but achievable standards for power plants, and customized goals for states to cut the carbon pollution that is driving climate change, the Clean Power Plan provides national consistency, accountability and a level playing field while reflecting each state’s energy mix. It also shows the world that the United States is committed to leading global efforts to address climate change.” This was one of the most successful plans

This can lead to higher hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes. For these reason the EPA works with Massachusetts and other states to regulate the Clean Air Act. Since the EPA is run by the government, they are able to control air pollution to an extent at least in this country. They are aware of the risks if air pollution gets out of our control, and their information is backed up by multiple scientific resources that are also funded by the government, and some outside

Hence the rising numbers and intensity of yearly heat waves across the world. {Why is this a problem}…. nature’s processes for removing CO2 are relatively slow, a large portion of the CO2 already emitted will remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years to come, setting our planet on a warming cycle from which ecological impacts are inevitable. Human activity—especially the burning of fossil fuels for energy—is the primary cause of global warming. In the past 300 years, industrial, economic, and social activity has released more than 1.5 trillion tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Burning coal is also a leading cause of smog, acid rain, and toxic air pollution. Some emissions can be significantly reduced with readily available pollution controls, but most U.S. coal plants have not installed these technologies. The main legislation that applies to air pollution is the Clean Air Act (CAA). Under the CAA the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set limits on the amount of certain pollutants that can be released into the air. By using technology that either traps the pollutants before they are released into the air or that changes them into less harmful pollutants, the amount of air pollution can be controlled. If not then, burning greater amounts of coal would release greater quantities of greenhouse gasses. The failed legislation that momentarily existed in the United States applied to global warming, thus displaying that there are currently no blueprints to seize or even slow the increase of our coal use that contributes significantly to global warming and causes major environmental problems. In 2013, the environmental justice groups sue EPA for Failure to Enforce Clean Air

The clean-air law has been violated by Exxon so, by agreeing to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and spend $300 million on pollution-control technology, Exxon has settled their dispute. But, with every conflict being resolved, their has to be someone who isn’t done with the problem. Like some environmentalists are criticizing the settlement by saying it’s a insufficient punishment for years of violations by the giant oil company. I mean, I agree with this since we hurt the environment pretty bad already and now we’re basically saying it’s ok if you don’t follow the rules we put in place to protect our environment from our growing economy, as long as you pay to “help” it bounce back. But good things did come out of this since they’re using that

Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq.        -- Enforced by US EPA --

The article I choose to read was named “The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act.” At the beginning of the article, it caught my attention by stating how we can go for days without food or hours without water but only a few minutes without air (The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act), which is true. The article goes into details about why we should be concerned about air pollution, how air pollution affects our health, and how air pollution affects the economy. A quick summary of the article explains how air pollution can irritate your eyes and make your nose burn. Polluted air can make it difficult for you to breathe and trigger your respiratory system. It quickly affects those who are elderly with heart and respiratory diseases.

In August 2015 President Obama and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) finalized their plan to cut carbon pollution and drive climate change, called the Clean Power Plan. President Obama first announced his rededication to Climate change in a speech at Georgetown University, in June of 2013, saying: “I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that is beyond fixing” (whitehouse.gov). Indeed, since, Obama has once again stepped back into the belief that fixing our planet is not only what is right, but also it is what is necessary for the people of tomorrow to live in a world that is not damaging to their health.

The Southern Company is one of the largest consumers of coal, and the amendment of the Clean Air Act Amendment that aimed at reducing the volume of sulfur dioxide generated led to some problems. Previous regulations for air pollution control had specified a particular amount that a facility could emit, while the company has to choose its emission levels for the new sulfur dioxide law. Coal-fired plants in the United States will be receiving allowances for emitting 2.5 pounds of sulfur dioxide per 1,000,000 MMBtu of consumed coal.