67 Dirty Polluters “Off The Hook” Due To Loopholes In Energy Bill

The American Clean Energy & Security Act Bill (ACES) that passed the House of Representatives earlier this month has left a lot to be desired for many environmental groups.

One of those groups is the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit research organization in Washington, D.C., which did an analysis of ACES and found that two “loopholes” in the legislation will continue to allow power plants and other polluters with getting “off the hook” from reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

EWG’s analysis found that the bill’s agriculture provisions will let polluters take credit for meeting their required pollution reductions by paying farmers, to put new conservation practices in place. “If this approach works as it should, farmers get incentives to increase conservation, polluters pay less to reduce an equivalent amount of pollution, and climate change is slowed,” says EWG.

Another loophole is that the bill provides no guarantee that key conservation practices that are generating credits for polluters will actually stay in place over the long-term.

These 67 power plants are getting “off the hook” from doing their part of reducing emissions, EWG claims.

“The stated purpose of this landmark legislation is to reduce the carbon emissions that threaten the health and well being of our planet and its inhabitants. Letting polluters take credit for practices farmers already have in place not only lets the polluters off the hook it also squanders the opportunity for agriculture to play a critical role in fighting climate change,” said Craig Cox, EWG’s Midwest vice-president.

“Agriculture faces a host of threats from climate change, and should be on the front lines in this fight. Instead, the agricultural provisions in ACES lack the long-term mechanisms needed to ensure carbon emissions are properly sequestered,” Cox said.

EWG wants the Senate to close the loopholes in the bill before it is voted on.

For a more detailed description of EWG’s analysis, click here.

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