Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2401, Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I thank my colleague from Florida for his eloquent words and for allowing me a moment to speak on the floor.

Madam Speaker, the TRAIN Act will repeal two critical clean air standards: the proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule for power plants that burn coal and oil.

I'm from the State of Maine, and Maine is the tailpipe of the Nation for most atmospheric pollution. Nearly 130,000 people in Maine have been diagnosed with asthma. Yesterday in my office, I met with a wonderful young man named Jake, one of 28,000 children in the State of Maine who suffer from asthma. I also met with his parents, small business owners who struggle to pay more than a thousand dollars a month in insurance and medication to keep Jake healthy.

Since 1970, the Clean Air Act has saved hundreds of thousands of lives and decreased air pollution by 60 percent. Implementing Clean Air standards will mean fewer kids and parents will struggle with life-long costs of dirty air. Improved standards will also mean reducing the amount of mercury and toxins in the air and water.

In 2000, the government determined that major coal-burning entities are the single largest source of manmade emissions of mercury in the United States. It's estimated that 6 percent of women in the U.S. of childbearing age have dangerous levels of mercury in their blood, and more than 410,000 children born each year in the United States are exposed to levels of mercury in the womb high enough to impair neurological development.

Madam Speaker, improved Clean Air Act standards will dramatically reduce atmospheric pollution and decrease dangerous healthy effects of dirty air. The TRAIN Act would delay those standards.

Companies are prepared to meet improved Clean Air Act standards by making further investments in technology that would create over a million jobs in the United States between 2011 and 2015. The TRAIN Act will delay those investments.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. I yield the gentlelady an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. PINGREE of Maine. The TRAIN Act will delay those investments and delay those jobs in this country. The TRAIN Act is bad for business, it's bad for our health, and it's bad for the State of Maine. I urge a ``no'' vote on the TRAIN Act and a ``no'' vote on delaying Clean Air Act standards.

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