Central New York Rep. John McHugh takes aim at acid rain

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http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/central_new_york_rep_john_mchu.html

Central New York Rep. John McHugh takes aim at acid rain

by Mark Weiner / The Post-Standard
Thursday April 23, 2009, 6:27 AM

Washington -- A Central New York congressman, seeing an opportunity that may never come again, has introduced a bill requiring the most drastic cuts in U.S. history to the pollution responsible for acid rain.

http://mchugh.house.gov/">Rep. John McHugh said he wants to tie his "Acid Rain and Mercury Control Act" into a landmark energy and climate change bill that Congress will begin considering this week, with the goal of a vote by June.

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But the EPA, and the separate global warming bill making its way through Congress, do not address all of the pollution from coal-fired power plants. The pollution contributes to acid rain, which has devastated lakes and forests in New York for decades. Among the pollutants that McHugh wants to target is mercury, which also poses a risk to human health.

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The bill focuses on three pollutants that contribute to acid rain -- mercury, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide -- destroying forests, killing fish and poisoning water.

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