Wilmington, DE – Governor Markell applauded today’s Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate cross-state air pollution from coal-fired power plants. The Governor has helped lead an effort by Eastern states to petition the EPA to require that Midwestern states reduce emissions that are blown across state lines.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision represents another important step to combat the dirty air pollution that enters Delaware from other states, which unfairly harms the health of our people and our economy,” said Markell.
“Through efforts to clean up power plants and work with every industrial facility in Delaware, we have seen huge reductions in air pollution produced by our state, especially over the past five years. However, more than 90% of our dirty pollution comes from out-of-state sources, and the impact often results in air that does not meet healthy standards. Despite this, new facilities in our state are required to meet much more stringent regulatory requirements than facilities in the very states that are causing our air quality violations.
“We continue to be committed to doing everything we can to reduce harmful emissions in our state, but we also demand a level playing field and today’s ruling brings us closer to that goal.”