Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
September 8th, 2005
DURHAM — As if North Carolina didn’t already have a hard enough time combating air pollution, a new federal ruling may allow neighboring, upwind states to off-load soot and other particulate pollutants on the Tar Heel State.
In July, Attorney General Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit in federal court and a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider portions of the agency’s Clean Air Interstate Rule. “While we generally support EPA’s new standards to clean our air,” Cooper explained, “we fear that loopholes in this Rule will give power plants in other states the ability to send additional pollution our way.”
According to the Sierra Club of North Carolina, the petition specifically asks the EPA ?to require emission reductions from power plants in thirteen upwind states in order to reduce their contribution to North Carolina’s fine particle pollution,? a contributor to asthma and other respiratory ailments.
On September 14th at 9 a.m., the EPA is holding a public comment hearing on the CAIR ruling and Cooper’s petition for reconsideration. The hearing will be held at the EPA facility in Research Triangle Park.
The Sierra Club hopes to gather the support of local cyclists who want to say something about it. In order to show support for Cooper’s petition and cleaner air standards, the environmental group is organizing a bike ride from downtown Durham to the EPA hearing, says Beau Memory, NC Sierra Club’s Conservation Campaign Coordinator.
The ?Bike Against Bad Air? begins at 8am at the American Tobacco Trail’s northern trailhead, just across Willard and Blackwell streets from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The planned route to the EPA is less than ten miles ? approximately a third of which follows the greenway, a third follows the new bike lanes on Cornwallis Rd, and the remainder follows Alexander Dr. through RTP.
The plan is for cyclists to ride together and enter the EPA’s campus as a group. A photo ID will be required to enter EPA facilities. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Sierra Club invites the cyclists to return to downtown Durham for lunch at the Mellow Mushroom.
?Getting riders out in the middle of the week will demonstrate North Carolinians’ commitment to clean air,? says Memory. ?We’re lucky to have a great trail system here, and we also want to show people there are cleaner ways to get to work each morning.?
In a July press release, Roy Cooper says that ?out-of-state polluters are interfering with North Carolina’s ability to meet national air quality standards despite the state’s success at cleaning up in-state pollution under it’s Clean Smokestacks law.?
Memory acknowledges that ?North Carolina’s taken a huge leap forward with smokestack legislation.? The point of the ?Bike Against Bad Air? and the public hearing, Memory says, is to convince the EPA that ?unfortunately, air pollution doesn?t stop at state lines. Every day that goes by that our neighbors don’t clean up their pollution means more soot, more smog, and more asthma for North Carolinians.?
RIDE DETAILS
If you’re interested in riding or testifying, you can register with the Sierra Club by emailing bikeagainstbadair@yahoo.com or calling Christa Wagner at (704) 374-1125.
Cyclists should arrive downtown at 8am and be ready to roll by 8:30.
All riders are required to wear a helmet and sign a waiver of liability.
Bring plenty of water, a photo ID, and a bike lock.