Opinion: Not the way to clear the air

The most dubious legislation often is given the most hopeful title. Such is the case with President Bush's "Clear Skies" initiative, which would probably leave the skies dirty in some of the nation's most polluted spots. The Bush plan also takes too long to achieve results, ignores carbon dioxide emissions altogether and relies too heavily on a market-based approach known as emissions trading.

Not that emissions trading doesn't have a role in fighting air pollution. Congress initiated that process in the 1990s to reduce sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain. It has proved to be an efficient way to reduce the pollutant at a reasonable cost. But while the overall level of sulfur dioxide is down, certain areas of the country have seen little or no progress. In fact, under emissions trading, 300 of the dirtiest plants found it more economical to increase their sulfur dioxide output.

During the Clinton administration, the Environmental Protection Agency attempted to clean up some of those plants by forcing them to add pollution controls when they upgrade or expand. That is a necessary check on the emissions trading system, but Bush has undermined the effort by proposing to weaken those rules. Without such intervention, the president's Clear Skies initiative would allow severe air pollution in many areas of the country while it cleaned up other areas, which fails to uphold the spirit of the Clean Air Act.

There is a better way. Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., has written a bill that would achieve Bush's claimed 70-percent reduction in pollution 10 years earlier than the president's 2018 deadline. In addition to addressing the pollutants sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury, the Jeffords bill would add carbon dioxide, which is a major cause of global warming. And it would not let the oldest, dirtiest plants off the hook.

The president has been too cozy with polluting industries in the past to have credibility on this issue. Senate Democrats are right to be skeptical of Clear Skies.

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