Politics: No Source Review

There is this thing, in the Clean Air Act, which seems modest. It says that when you, say, add some multi-million-dollar new, um, coal furnace or something like that to your massive, polluting, 50-year-old power plant, you have essentially created a "new source" for pollution. This new source needs to be reviewed and brought into compliance with the Clean Air Act. This is necessary because 50-year-old power plants were grandfathered in so they are currently permitted to pollute at enormous levels. New source review means that eventually, these plants will have to not pollute so much, which was the point of the whole Clean Air Act in the first place, right?

Wrong, c/o the New York Times:

After more than two years of internal deliberation and intense pressure from industry, the Bush administration has settled on a regulation that would allow thousands of older power plants, oil refineries and industrial units to make extensive upgrades without having to install new anti-pollution devices, according to those involved in the deliberations.

Go here to learn how screwed you and your children and their children are getting.