In response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) release of its final Good Neighbor rule, Evergreen Action Power Sector Policy Lead Charles Harper released the following statement: 

“Everyone deserves access to clean air, no matter where they live. EPA’s finalized Good Neighbor rule represents real progress in reducing deadly ozone pollution from power plants and industrial sources—it will protect millions of Americans’ health. Air pollution doesn’t know the limits of state lines, but thanks to strengthened cross-state standards for ozone and NOX pollution in this rule, Americans living in down-wind states will be able to breathe a little easier.

“Tragically, over half of all air-quality-related deaths in the U.S. come from pollution outside a person’s home state, but this rule will help to reverse course. It will provide up to $15 billion in annual benefits to the American people through improved health while preventing 1,300 premature deaths, over one million asthma episodes, and thousands of hospital visits annually. Black, Brown, Indigenous, and disadvantaged communities routinely experience more of this kind of poisonous pollution—and they stand to benefit the most from this rule and its safeguards. EPA met the mark with the Good Neighbor rule, and we look forward to its continued progress to comprehensively address power sector pollution.” 

Evergreen previously released “Falling Further Behind: A Report Card on EPA’s Progress on 10 Important Power Sector Rules,” highlighting EPA’s progress on 10 key power sector and air quality rules that are critical to reining in pollution that harms frontline communities and are exacerbating the climate crisis.

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