The EPA claims that the rule will save thousands of lives and save $37 billion to $90 billion each year in health benefits, especially for the young and old.
“Overdue reductions lead to vital health benefits—Until now there were no national limits on emissions of mercury and other air toxics from power plants,” the EPA explains on their Mercury and Air Toxins Fact Sheet. “Uncontrolled releases of toxic air pollutants like mercury – a neurotoxin – can impair children’s ability to learn.”
Inhofe believes the health benefits to be a “myth.”
“The truth is that the health benefits EPA claims are exaggerated and misleading,” Inhofe said on June 4. “That’s because EPA’s analysis shows that over 99 percent of the benefits from the rule come from reducing fine particulate matter, not air toxics. Of course, fine particulate matter is regulated under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards [NAAQS] program, and in fact 90% of Utility MACT’s purported particulate matter benefits occur in air already deemed safe in the NAAQS program.”
