Last week in the Des Moines Register, there was an article about three Iowa
legislators who skipped the last day of the session for a trip to Vegas
where they would attend the ALEC Convention.  The article below refers to
just a few of the positions ALEC takes on issues we care about.  I seem to
recall that the "clean water bill" passed in Iowa two years ago was based on
a sample bill from ALEC.  The three Iowa legislators who attended the
meeting are Sen. Sandy Greiner (R), Sen. McKibben (R) and Rep. Delores Mertz
(D).
Jane Clark
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From:
SERC Wildlines Report #15
April 15, 2002

A publication of the State Environmental Resource Center (SERC) bringing you
the most important news on state environmental issues from across the
country.

Watchdog: ALEC Report Rips Four-Pollutants Bill
Power plants from 1922 are still in operation, but they are not required to
meet the environmental regulations every new facility must follow. Because
of this 1970 loophole in the law, dirty plants have been "grandfathered" in
from following the Clean Air Act. Senator Jeffords' "Clean Power Act"
(S.556) and Rep. Henry Waxman's "Clean Smokestack Act" (H.R. 1256) plug this
loophole in the law, stopping old plants from "legally" polluting the at
rates up to 13 times higher than new plants with modern emissions controls.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released a new report this
week criticizing federal four pollutant bills. ALEC's report targets federal
"4P" legislation that requires substantial reductions in power plant
emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and carbon dioxide,
the principle "greenhouse" gas targeted by the Kyoto Protocol.  ALEC called
the reduction of fossil fuels to reduce air pollution a "false premise."
ALEC also opposes integrated air quality management, and stated that four
pollutant bills are "horrendously wasteful" and "totally useless".

For more information, visit SERC's Power Plant's Dirty Air Loophole  web
page.

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