Canary Coalition Receives Clean Air Excellence Award from EPA

June 3, 2004

For its role in advocating for the North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act the Canary Coalition has received a Clean Air Excellence Award from the US Environmental Protection Agency. The certificate was delivered through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) with a letter of congratulations signed by DENR Secretary Bill Ross.

Ironically this recognition comes as the Canary Coalition is in the midst of initiating a new campaign calling for reform of the Division of Air Quality (DAQ) of DENR.

“It always feels good to gain recognition for the value of your work,” says Canary Coalition Director Avram Friedman, “But, the real reward will come when we begin to see the incidents of child asthma attacks decrease in western North Carolina; when we see the return of a lush canopy of trees on Mount Mitchell, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Clingman’s Dome; when the mercury count is reduced in the bloodstreams of pregnant women; when renewable energy begins to replace coal-burning power plants; and when greenhouse gas emissions are reduced enough to begin the process of reversing the climate changes that have begun to materialize due to human activity and the burning of fossil fuels.”

Since the passage of the NC Clean Smokestacks Act two years ago the Canary Coalition has been very active in opposing the EPA for announcing rule changes that weaken the New Source Review provision of the federal Clean Air Act.  At the same time the grassroots organization based in Sylva, NC has charged that the DAQ in North Carolina is inappropriately influenced by industries it is supposed to be regulating.

  “While we appreciate and accept this award, it will not halt or influence any of our activities in regard to these agencies.  Real progress on air quality depends on strong enforcement.  It’s our job to make sure the enforcement agencies do their job; and they have a long way to go,” says Friedman. “Handing out awards is all well and good, but EPA and DAQ have much more important work to be doing right now.  Passage of the Clean Smokestacks Act did not complete the task of improving our air quality.  It was just a bare beginning. There are still tens of thousands of old factories, refineries and power plants that are exempt from smokestacks emission reduction requirements. EPA’s NSR rule changes extend those exemptions indefinitely.  The DAQ has been advocating for regulatory easements that promote the construction of polluting industries in North Carolina without first receiving air quality permits for adequate emission control systems. We look forward to the day when the Canary Coalition can offer an award to the EPA or the DAQ for their efforts to improve our air quality. 

We have made remarkable progress and there is good reason for hope as the Clean Air Movement is growing bigger and stronger nationwide.  But, progress has not come with the help of these government agencies in the last four years.  We can take heart in the fact that public involvement has been so effective that it is overcoming the resistance of industrial influence within these agencies.  Perhaps we all deserve an award for that, but this is no time to slow down our efforts by being so self-congratulatory that we forget that most of the work is ahead of us.  We've made the snowball, now lets push it down the hill."