“We will introduce bipartisan legislation that will prevent these disastrous new rules from wreaking havoc on our economy in West Virginia.”
—U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, a West Virginia Democrat, about new EPA emissions guidelines for coal-fired power plants President Obama unveiled this week.
Why it stinks: Pollutants that coal-fired power plants emit include: hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, benzene, formaldehyde, lead, arsenic and mercury, radium and uranium. Health researchers have determined that these toxic chemicals can exacerbate asthma, pulmonary disease and bronchitis.
The pollutants can also lead to heart attacks, strokes, various cancers and birth defects. Rep. Rahall’s own state is one of the nation’s heaviest coal producers and consistently ranks at the bottom of national health rankings.
Now who’s wreaking havoc on whom?
