<< Back 7/3/02 On the road to cleaner air By Scott McLeod You could hear it in the voices of the people there at the N.C. Arboretum last week, and you could see it in their faces: The Clean Smokestacks Bill provides real evidence we truly can reduce the pollution that has altered the Smokies’ landscape. As smarmy as that sounds, it must be tempered with a few less optimistic truths: many politicians don’t have a clue as to the air quality problem or the solution. A visit by EPA Director Christine Todd Whitman to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park earlier this week showed how much work still lies ahead for those carrying the load on this issue. The Smokestacks Bill calls for significant reductions in sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury — the major sources for the haze and health problems attributed to air pollution. Over the next 10 years, North Carolina’s 14 coal-fired power plants will become some of the cleanest in the nation. But just important as the reductions mandated in this bill is how it evolved. An original clean air proposal by then-Gov. Jim Hunt was followed by a series of statewide public hearings. During those meetings Hunt’s modest proposal seemed destined to gain favor because it came close to splitting the difference between what the power companies said they could afford and what environmentalists said was needed to significantly curb the problems caused by air pollution. No one, however, wanted to budge, especially environmentalists who knew a modest bill would be as good as no bill. Those public meetings, the information distributed during them, and a subsequent report from the General Accounting Office had provided a soap box of sorts. Within about 18 months — from late 1999 through spring of 2001 — most people in these mountains become acutely aware of our problem. All the media were reporting it. People who knew little about government knew that visibility in the Smokies had been reduced as much as 90 percent on high ozone days, knew that asthmatics and the elderly were being advised not to hike or even go outdoors on hot, muggy summer days because of air pollution, knew that dozens of species of plants, many animals and our streams and rivers were being adversely affected by the acid soup that our rain and fog had become. After it seemed that publicity about our air problems had reached a fever pitch, a core group of environmentalists took a critical step. Brownie Newman of the Western North Carolina Alliance is credited with taking an early version of the Smokestacks Bill to Rep. Martin Nesbitt and Sen. Steve Metcalf of Buncombe County. Others were involved with Newman at that early stage, and I’m sure I don’t know who all of them were. Two others whom I know were a part of this early effort are Michael Shore of the Southern Environmental Defense League and Avram Friedman of Sylva. Friedman went on to start the Canary Coalition, a clean-air advocacy group that has been beating the drum loudly about this issue for a couple of years now. It’s at this stage that the story of the passage of this bill became somewhat remarkable. Metcalf and Nesbitt, two well-respected lawmakers not known for far-out legislation, embraced the bill. Living here in the mountains, they knew the problem first-hand. They rolled up their sleeves and went to work, and Metcalf — within a few weeks — had guided the bill to passage in the Senate. In the House, however, the going was more difficult. A snag ensued when business groups contested the rate increase Duke Power and CP&L said would be passed on to consumers if the bill passed. Homeowners would face a modest power bill hike, but large industrial and commercial users were looking at something far more substantial. Hike Blue Ridge Paper’s power bill by 5 percent and millions in potential profits simply disappear. This is where Gov. Mike Easley helped, and in my mind it is so far the best work he has done as governor of our state. He crafted a deal where a planned rate reduction for past capital improvements by the utility companies would be delayed. By maintaining the current rate, the companies in effect got the new equipment and new technologies needed to reduce pollution paid for. In turn, these companies agreed to donate potentially valuable pollution credits to the state, credits worth good money on the open market to other polluters — like TVA. The compromise forged between environmentalists, power companies, the state’s business community — along with the leadership of elected officials — is what stands out here. Real people many of us know refused to walk away when progress stalled. They kept working, refused to take no for an answer, and came up with monumental legislation that has made partners of long-time adversaries. In the past, it has been federal legislation that has changed the mountains — FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps, rural electrification efforts, and the Appalachian Regional Commission (which steered millions into WNC for roads, water, sewer and other projects). This time, however, the state bill will pave the way. But many at the federal level are still clueless. When Whitman was in the Smokies touting George Bush’s clean air plan, she didn’t mention North Carolina’s groundbreaking bill. Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, a physician and strong advocate for clean air, also — surprisingly — did not know anything about it. Perhaps that visit will be the beginning of some national attention to this bill. Just maybe, it can teach the Bush Administration that it is possible for business interests and environmentalists to forge partnerships for the good of the people. That will be the great lesson of this bill, and it is one leaders in Washington will have difficulty learning. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com)