Bush plan seeks to cut US power plant emissions

11.50 am

WASHINGTON - US President George W Bush today proposed cutting US power plant emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury in a bid to reduce acid rain, smog and general pollution, the White House said.

The president would cut emissions of three of the worst air pollutants -- but not a fourth, carbon dioxide -- by setting emission target limits, assigning permits for each tonne of pollution, and allowing firms to trade them in what one Bush administration official called a "cap and trade system."

Such a system encourages businesses to begin cutting their emissions well before the target dates are imposed and would allow them to use the resulting reductions themselves in later years or to trade them to other businesses, the official said.

Some critics prefer traditional anti-pollution measures that set specific limits that businesses must meet or face sanctions if they fail to do so.

Under Bush's plan, emissions of sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain, would be cut to 4.5 million tonnes in 2010 and 3 million tonnes in 2018 from their current level of 11 million tonnes, the White House said in a fact sheet.

Nitrogen oxides emissions, which contribute to urban smog, would be reduced to 2.1 million tonnes in 2008 and 1.7 million tonnes in 2018 from their current level of 5 million tonnes.

Mercury emissions, which are not currently regulated, would be reduced to 26 tonnes in 2010 and 15 tonnes in 2018 from 48 tonnes at present, the White House said.

The reductions form part of Bush's "Clear Skies Initiative" which the president is formally releasing in a speech this morning.

"Under traditional command and control regulations, everybody haggles over what the limits are. You have to get individualised permits. There is a compliance date that's out in time and nobody has an incentive to improve until the compliance date kicks in," a senior Bush administration official said, briefing reporters on the power plant emissions plan.

"Cap and trade tells the person who wants to invest now that they can get a financial incentive to reduce today... that creates a credit that they can either use in the future or they can sell to somebody else."

"Unlike the current Clean Air Act where you don't get compliance until the date gets... imposed this one's going to bring real numbers down."

- REUTERS

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