WMOT 89.5 | LISTENER-POWERED RADIO INDEPENDENT AMERICAN ROOTS
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Rep. Black: Not much Congress can do to block new EPA rules

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency are getting a lot of pushback following Monday’s announcement of new, stricter power plant emission standards.

But the Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies electricity to Tennessee and six other states, seems to be taking the announcement in stride.

A TVA spokesman told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the agency’s recently adopted resource plan should prove flexible enough to meet the tighter regulations. The newspaper notes that TVA has cut carbon emissions by 30 percent since 2005, in large part by closing some of its older, coal burning power plants.

John McFadden with the Tennessee Environmental Council says it’s past time people started considering the larger costs associated with burning carbon based fuels.

“The impact of burning fossil fuels on human health has been documented again and again. It causes lung disease, heart attacks, all kinds of problems associated with it.”

Tennessee Congressional Rep. Diane Black told Fox News yesterday she’s deeply opposed to the new regulations, but also admitted there’s little congress can do to stop EPA implementation.