EPA celebrates victories over pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is celebrating and taking credit for major reductions in pollutants that once harmed human and animal health.

In a post on the website Grist Tuesday, EPA head Gina McCarthy highlighted “4 big pollution problems EPA has (mostly) fixed already.”

{mosads}The post runs through a short history of acid rain, leaded gasoline, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and air pollution.

“The dangers they posed were real, but you probably haven’t heard about them in a while,” McCarthy wrote. “There’s a good reason for that: We put smart policies in place to fix them.”

The post was timed to precede Wednesday’s celebration of Earth Day.

But it also serves to back up the EPA’s argument that protecting the environment can go hand in hand with economic progress.

“Despite the doomsday warnings from some in the power industry that the regulations would cause electricity prices to spike and lead to blackouts, over the last 25 years, acid rain levels are down 60 percent — while electricity prices have stayed stable, and the lights have stayed on,” she wrote in the acid rain section.

McCarthy also took the opportunity to promote the EPA’s plan to cut the power sector’s carbon emissions 30 percent by 2030.

“When we finalize our Clean Power Plan this summer, we’ll not only cut carbon pollution from power plants, our nation’s largest source, but we’ll also reduce those other dangerous pollutants and protect our families’ health,” she said. “When we act, we also help safeguard communities from the impacts of climate change — like more severe droughts, storms, fires, and floods.