WASHINGTON, DC – In one of the biggest clean air debates of the year, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today helped lead the successful effort to protect the quality of Rhode Island’s air and prevent it from being polluted by power plant emissions from upwind states.  Six Republicans joined a vast majority of Democratic Senators in voting to defeat a proposal that would have overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule limiting wind-blown pollution like soot and ozone-forming chemicals from power plants.

Without the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule in place, Rhode Island would face increases in both air pollution and health care costs and could have to pay more in pollution clean-up costs.

Speaking on the Senate floor today, Reed, the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and Environment, stated: “Today’s vote is a significant win for public health and protecting Americans against pollution generated by power plants that travel across state lines.  Everyone should have the right to breathe clean air.  The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule levels the playing field for states like Rhode Island, where 95% of ozone pollution comes from other states.  It is not only unfair, but it jeopardizes the health of children and families to allow air pollution to go unregulated.”

Specifically, the EPA will require coal plants in 27 states, mostly located to the south and west of Rhode Island, to reduce smokestack pollution that spews across state lines.

Had this resolution passed, it would have weakened decades of progress in environmental and clean air standards.  According to the EPA, blocking the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule would result in between 13,000 and 34,000 deaths due to smog and soot pollution; 15,000 more heart attacks, and 400,000 more asthma attacks each year.

“Rhode Island has invested in clean energy and preventing pollution, but we can’t protect our citizens from air pollution without strong federal clean air standards.  Rhode Islanders should not be forced to breathe dirty air blown in from other states.  We need to hold polluters accountable, not roll back clean air laws that protect public health and the quality of life for all our citizens,” said Reed.

Earlier this year, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to indefinitely delay the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule as part of a larger effort aimed at dismantling a wide array of EPA regulations.