WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and dean of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, released the following statement today after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the Cross State Air Pollution Rule, also known as the Transport Rule, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) accompanying implementation plans. The program would have limited the amount of harmful pollution that can travel across state lines, punishing the citizens of downwind states like Massachusetts with more lung and heart disease. The EPA has determined that the Transport Rule will improve air quality in Massachusetts, including preventing up to 390 premature deaths each year by 2014. Massachusetts’s total public health benefits by 2014 as a result of the final rule would be between $1.3 billion and $3.2 billion each year.
 
“Implementation of the Transport Rule would save lives and money in Massachusetts and across the country. Cutting down on dangerous pollution traveling across state lines means cleaner air, clearer lungs and healthier lives for families across the Bay State and nationwide. I urge the Obama administration to appeal this misguided decision by the courts so that Massachusetts and other states impacted by harmful emissions from old, polluting coal plants can clean up their air.”  

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