Clean Air Council and Bettis Lobby Congressmen for Clean Air
Bettis lobbies congressmen for clean air
Friday, December 16, 2011
By Tracie Mauriello, Post-Gazette Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- "The Bus" stopped Thursday at the Capitol.
Former Steelers star Jerome Bettis was stumping for quick implementation of safe air standards.
"This needs to happen sooner than later," Mr. Bettis, who has asthma, said during a meeting with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. "It's pretty simple. Everybody's health is at stake."
Mr. Bettis is making the rounds today, speaking to lawmakers and federal environmental officials establishing mercury emission limits for power plants that burn coal and oil.
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release the standards as soon as today. The aim is to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and other heavy metals as well as acid gases.
"My goal is for the members of Congress we meet with to understand just how important these rules are to people's health, and that they need to be implemented as soon as possible," Mr. Bettis said.
The electric power industry has sought to delay implementation because they say that rapid installation of pollution-control equipment would destabilize the electric grid, require coordinated power outages, necessitate time-consuming state regulatory approvals and cause companies to incur significant expense at a time they can least afford it.
In an interview outside Mr. Casey's office, Mr. Bettis downplayed those concerns and said the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards have been in the works for a decade.
"People are trying to make it about other things, but this is about the right to breathe clean air," he said. "They want it to be pushed back as far as they can, but can you delay children's health? Can you delay women's health? Can you delay men's health?"
Mr. Bettis, who was diagnosed with asthma at age 15, said the issue is a personal one for him.
It is for Katie Feeney of Philadelphia, too. Ms. Feeney, a policy analyst for the Clean Air Council, joined him on The Hill today. She told lawmakers that 1 in 12 women, including her, have unsafe levels of mercury in their bodies that can cause problems during pregnancy.
Nicknamed "The Bus" for his bruising ball-carrying ability in pro football, Mr. Bettis heads the Bus Stops Here Foundation, a nonprofit that helps troubled and underprivileged children.
Bureau chief Tracie Mauriello: 703-996-9292 or tmauriello@post-gazette.com.
First published on December 16, 2011 at 12:00 am
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11350/1197287-84.stm#ixzz1gjh2V1j7
