The Bush Administration introduced a new version of the Clear Skies air pollution bill in late January that is supported by industry but loathed by environmentalists.

The bill would prevent North Carolina from turning to the federal court system as a recourse to force neighboring states to clean up air pollution wafting into WNC. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper filed a legal notice against several states last November, including Tennessee, warning them of the potential for legal action if pollution from those states continued to undermine North Carolina’s own efforts to clean up its air through the Clean Smokestacks Act emission reductions.

The bill would also repeal several measures of the Clean Air Act, including mandated reductions of mercury, smog and soot that are currently slated to be phased in over several years.

“This is a reckless attempt to undo the most important protections in our nation’s most important clean air law,” according to Ulla Reeves, regional program director for Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Bill supporters say the bill balances air quality protections with job growth and economic industrial expansion.

“Setting ambitious yet achievable emissions reductions goals while allowing flexibility in reaching those targets is the way to achieve healthier and cleaner air without driving energy price increases. Higher energy costs will harm consumers, manufacturers, businesses and farmers and be an overall negative force on our economy,” according to the Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Energy.

The bill was initially scheduled for a vote on Feb. 16. Two days before the vote, on Valentine’s Day, many national environmental groups rolled out a media campaign referring to the bill as a “Sweetheart Deal for Polluters,” even sending heart-shaped candies bearing the slogan to senators. Meanwhile, the Labor Environment Alliance plastered Illinois neighborhoods with doorknob hangers urging support of the bill. The door hangers were purple, signifying the blending of Blue and Red for non-partisan support.

“Some alternative proposals will raise the cost of gasoline, diesel fuel, coal and electricity,” according to the Labor Environment Alliance.

The bill appeared to lack support for passage on the eve of the vote, however, and it was pulled to allow for more lobbying and negotiating. It could come up for a vote again in the Senate on March 2.

The Clear Skies initiative, first introduced by Bush in 2002, has yet to make it to the floor for a vote. Environmentalists feared the increase in the Republican majority in Congress following November elections would finally give the green light to the Clear Skies bill.

The bill would allow antiquated power plants to increase output without bringing their pollution controls up to modern standards. Tennessee Valley Authority has several old coal-powered plants exempt from pollution laws. It has to upgrade emission technology before increasing power production at those plants under current regulations. The new bill would change that requirement.

According to supporters of the bill, however, the looser restrictions would actually encourage upgrades.

“These guideline improvements will remove regulatory obstacles and encourage the modernization of facilities and investments in new technologies,” according to the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy.

The bill blocks requirements that power plants reduce haze to protect national parks and wilderness areas, according to an analysis of the bill by the Clean Air Task Force and Environmental Defense. It also revokes local authority to require new pollution sources to meet strict emission limits in areas already suffering from unsafe air.