Sen. Carper Supports EPA’s Clean Air Good Neighbor Rule

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement reacting to the Environmental Protection Agency’s cross-state air pollution rule announcement:

“Today’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcement of the cross-state air pollution rule ensures that all states are good neighbors when it comes to air pollution.

“As those of us who live in Delaware and other so-called “tail pipe” states on the East Coast know all too well, our neighboring states’ dirty air has adversely affected the health and well-being of Delawareans, just by virtue of our location. We need to change that and this cross-state air pollution rule is an important tool to help us in that effort.

“My state of Delaware has made great strides in the effort to clean up its own air pollution and as we see with this new rule, those efforts have paid off and we now do not contribute to other state’s pollution problems.

“Unfortunately, some of our neighbors haven’t made the same progress in curbing air pollution that Delaware has made. Up to 90 percent of Delaware’s air pollution is coming from sources outside of our state. We have no control over this pollution, yet it endangers our health. Without this new EPA rule, Delawareans would continue to suffer from deadly air pollution from bad neighbors.

“Our neighbor’s dirty air means higher health care costs for Delawareans. Our neighbor’s dirty air means difficulty attracting businesses to our state. And, our neighbor’s dirty air means Delawareans are paying the full price of our neighbor’s dirty energy.

“As Governor of Delaware, I learned that despite their best efforts, states cannot clean up their air alone. We’re all in this together. We’ve got to work together, and we need to work with the EPA to continue cleaning up our air.”

“Since coming to the Senate, I have worked to find a legislative solution to this challenge. While those efforts haven’t born fruit, the courts have demanded that the EPA regulate this pollution. In response to those demands, the EPA has developed a sensible approach that will reduce smog and particle pollution and in turn, give us cleaner air and prevent thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in healthcare costs. In the end, this rule will help us achieve better health care results for less money.

“I will continue to work with this Administration and my colleagues – Democrats and Republicans alike – to make sure that all of our children have clean air to breathe, air that’s free of all types of air pollution. We have made remarkable progress in cleaning up our air, but we still have a long way to go.”

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