By Judy Sheahan
September 29, 2003

Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner and Augusta Mayor Bob Young joined President George W. Bush September 17 for a meeting and press conference at the White House. The President briefed the Mayors on his plan to improve air quality through three initiatives — reducing emissions from diesel vehicles by lowering the sulfur content in diesel fuel, changes in the New Source Review Program, and passage of the Clear Skies legislation.

President Bush said his meeting with the mayors along with representatives of chambers of commerce, manufacturing firms, utilities, and environmental groups verified the need for communities to improve air quality while also encouraging economic growth.

The President said that the changes made to the New Source Review Program would eliminate the bureaucratic red tape and the litigious nature of the program and therefore encourage more companies to modernize their equipment, reduce air emissions, and produce more energy.

The Clear Skies Initiative, according to the President, over the next 15 years will reduce Sulfur Dioxide by 73 percent, Nitrogen Oxide by 67 percent, and mercury by 69 percent. The Clear Skies Initiative would establish a "cap and trade" program similar to the one established to reduce Sulfur Dioxide which causes acid rain. Utilities would be required by 2010 and 2018 to either reduce their own emissions or buy credits for every ton they emit.

The President said he is anxious to get the Clear Skies Initiative passed in Congress. He acknowledged members of Congress who were present at the press conference including Senators James Inhofe (OK), Senator George Voinovich (OH), and Representative Joe Barton (TX) and asked for their leadership in moving the legislation forward. Legislation for the Clear Skies Initiative has been introduced in both the House and Senate and hearings have been held. Two other bills that also target utilities to reduce the above-mentioned air emissions and carbon dioxide, the Clean Power Act and the Clear Air Planning Act, have also been introduced in Congress.