There are so many lawsuits, legislative study groups and clean-air proposals floating around that it is difficult to keep track of what is happening. So here’s one truth to keep in mind - summer is coming, and the haze hanging over our mountains will be worse this year than it was last year. Bet on it.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from Western North Carolina, people who live in what is now one of the country’s most polluted regions, for some reason have decided to fight only half the battle. They - Sen. Dan Robinson of Cullowhee and Sen. Charles Carter of Buncombe County - say trying to force our own power companies to clean up their acts won’t help clear up mountain air. The special legislative committee on mountain air quality will focus on trying to cut pollution coming from coal-fired power plants owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

This issue was raised when a coalition of environmental groups proposed a bill aimed at forcing North Carolina power plants to reduce their nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions. The lawmakers who head the Senate Select Committee on Mountain Air Quality say supporting that bill will sidetrack efforts to force TVA to cut back on pollutants. They argue that our air quality in the mountains is so severe that we can’t worry about the whole state, that we must address what is polluting the air in this region.

If you face the problem with blinders on, then there is some truth to that assertion. It is estimated that 80 percent of our air pollution problems can be attributed to out-of-state power plants, and most of that comes from two or three owned by the TVA.

Our own power plants, however, do contribute to our pollution, though not as much as those in Tennessee. TVA has plans to drastically reduce NOx emissions in nine of 11 plants, while in North Carolina that reduction technology is slated to be installed in only three of 14. We will have a hard time getting TVA to continue reducing pollution when lawmakers and others in this state can’t convince our own power companies to do their part.

It would be nice to sit up here in these mountains and simply work to stop the pollution coming from TVA. If the huge utility turned off its plants today, it would only be a matter of days before our air began to clear. But we are guilty of being hypocrites by looking elsewhere and not worrying about where pollution produced by our power plants floats.

Perhaps it is not the job of the committee Robinson and Carter co-chair to address this dilemma, but this state is losing credibility on the air pollution issue by ignoring our own power plants. We’re losing moral high ground, and that’s no way to win a policy debate.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News