Mercury trade capped – Court frees Montana from controversial pollution market

Montana’s power plants will finally have mercury emission standards and will not be forced to participate in a nationwide emissions cap-and-trade program, thanks to a recent Washington, D.C., appeals court ruling.

Compared with other states, Montana wasn’t causing a whole lot of trouble for the Bush administration’s mercury cap-and-trade program.

The plan, as envisioned by the administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, would have allowed power plants exceeding 2005 federal mercury emission limits to purchase credits from power plants that produced emissions below the caps, allowing some states to release more of the toxin because others emitted less. A three-judge federal appeals panel in Washington, D.C., struck down the idea on Feb. 8, ruling it did not meet legal obligations under the Clean Air Act to protect the public’s health.

By: Paul Peters

Full Story: http://www.missoulanews.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=385F1137-14D1-13A2-9FFAA38349FEE434