Date: 2003-10-29
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. My motion to instruct the energy conferees is very. very simple. There is no provision in the House or Senate energy bills that allow ozone nonattainment areas to extend. or "bump up." deadlines to comply with the Clean Air Act. Now. House GOP energy conferees. including my respected colleague. the gentleman from Texas . want to include a rider in the energy conference report to overturn four Federal court rulings and amend the Clean Air Act to allow polluted areas to have more time to clean up. but without having to implement air pollution controls. Every time one looks up. it is another extension. This would delay the adoption of urgently needed antipollution measures in communities throughout the country. Industry officials. environmentalists. local elected officials. the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. and the Environmental Protection Agency have been working hard in recent months to find a way of complying with the ozone standards in north Texas. The Barton provision destroys that process. This special interest rider also shows reckless disregard for the health consequences that dirty air has on my constituents and others that live in smoggy cities across the country. To further delay necessary emissions reductions in ozone nonattainment areas is unacceptable and a betrayal of the publics trust. It is unacceptable. most of all. because it is based on false information that ozone transport jeopardizes attainment for smoggy cities. An article in my hometown newspaper. the Dallas Morning News. states today that documents and interviews from the Bush administrations EPA show little or no evidence to support claims that Houstons smog is harming the DallasFort Worth attainment of clean air goals. This is not about jobs versus clean air. this is about a small set of areas seeking to avoid their responsibility under the Clean Air Act. thereby gaining a competitive advantage over other industries in other areas that have complied. The disadvantaged area is quite likely to be in your district. This provision is blatantly unfair to my constituents and the gentleman from Texass constituents who write me all the time and live down wind from the smokestacks in my colleagues district. Under this provision. dirty. unhealthy air will continue to blow downward on to my constituents. possibly until the year 2012. I am -a nurse by profession. The health effects of air pollution imperil human lives. Ozone pollution burns cell walls in the lungs and air passages. causing tissues to swell. chest pain. coughing. irritation. and congestion. Ozone pollution decreases the ability of lungs to function properly. Air pollution aggravates asthma and increases susceptibility to bacterial infection. Longterm exposure to ozone in otherwise healthy individuals could set the stage for more serious illnesses. The cost for asthma. estimated at $11 billion annually. is only part of the total cost of the health care necessitated by exposure to harmful levels of ozone. The American Lung Association reports that exposure to high levels of ozone air polution appears to be responsible for up to 50.000 emergency room visits and up to 15.000 hospitalizations for respiratory problems each year. I had a dear friend lose her life this year from this very ailment. a 51yearold M.D. who had never smoked a cigarette. In my district. the effects of air pollution are especially compelling. The American Lung Association reports that nearly a half million people in the DallasFort Worth area live with diseases that are aggravated by air pollution. EPAs own consultants found that. each year almost 370 residents of the DallasFort Worth area died just because of pollution from the oldest and dirtiest unregulated power plants. and 10.500 asthma attacks are triggered. To further delay compliance and cleanup will increase health care costs for my constituents at a time when the health care system is broken. Clean air is crucial to the health of north Texans and the future economic wellbeing of our region. The Barton "bumpup" provision has no business in the energy bill. I suggest that if my colleague from Texas and my colleague from Louisiana . gentlemen I respect. wish to amend the Clean Air Act. they sho.uld do so by showing respect for our legislative process and by using a more appropriate legislative vehicle. But instead. they have language they are not even sharing with people to do it. Enough is enough. Hard deadlines are necessary to get the job done and clean up our air. This time has been lengthened and lengthened and lengthened and. each time. what is the answer? Another lengthened time. Our Republican colleagues cannot continue to delay and stall. We have a greater obligation to protect public health than polluters profits and campaign contributions. I am disappointed that many Republicans will frame this debate as a tradeoff between jobs and the environment. They are dead wrong. I urge my colleagues to vote against giving a clean air holiday to a few areas with the right political connections. I ask my colleagues to put the public health ahead of polluters profits. Please vote for the motion to instruct. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.