Statement on Proposed Legislation To Implement the Clear Skies Initiative

Today I am pleased to announce that Environmental Protection Administrator Whitman has submitted legislation to Congress to implement the Clear Skies Initiative I proposed in February. Since February, my administration has been working to develop legislation that meets our common commitment to cleaner air for all Americans. I also am pleased that Chairman Billy Tauzin and Chairman Joe Barton introduced this legislation in the House on Friday and that Senator Bob Smith will introduce it in the Senate today on behalf of the administration. Clear Skies will cut powerplant emissions by 70 percent—much further, faster, more certainly, and more cost-effectively than current law.

America has made significant progress over the last 30 years in our quest for cleaner air, and we have learned a lot about what approaches work best. Now is the time to put those lessons to use. Building upon the success of our most effective clean air program, we have crafted a new "Clean Air Act" for the 21st century, one that will do more to clean up emissions from powerplants than ever before. In the next decade alone, Clear Skies will eliminate 35 million more tons of pollution than the current Clean Air Act, bringing cleaner air to millions of Americans. Clear Skies will also help save our forests, lakes, streams, and coastal waters from acid rain and nitrogen and mercury deposition. And Clear Skies will do this through the use of a market-based system that guarantees results while keeping electricity prices affordable for the American people. Administrator Whitman and I look forward to working with Congress to deliver the health and environmental benefits promised by passage of Clear Skies legislation.