Interest groups duel over EPA climate rules in ads

The American Lung Association and the Environmental Policy Alliance have started an advertisement war over the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon pollution limit proposal for power plants.

The Lung Association will launch a TV ad Wednesday in support of the rules. It features a sleeping baby breathing deeply, with a voiceover saying existing rules already limit emissions of arsenic, lead and mercury from power plants.

The EPA’s new rule will close “the loophole that lets them pump unlimited carbon pollution” into the air.

The Lung Association helped President Obama unveil the proposal Monday and hosted a conference call with him to announce it. The group told The Washington Post that it is making a “six-figure buy” for the ad, including with Sunday talk shows.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Policy Alliance is running newspaper ads comparing the EPA to anarchists, militias, terrorists and others who threaten “to shut down 25% of our electric grid.”

The Alliance is linked to major conservative donors, The Washington Post reported. It’s part of the Center for Organizational Research and Education, run by a conservative public relations firm.