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Conservation Update

ADK, Others File Brief with U.S. Supreme Court in Mercury Case

In February 2008, ADK won a major victory when a federal appeals court threw out the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR). The cap-and-trade program allowed polluters to buy pollution credits and emit mercury without pollution controls, which in turn resulted in regional mercury “hot spots.” (Two recent studies have linked coal-fired power plants to mercury hot spots in the Adirondacks and Catskills.) The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the EPA mercury plan conflicted with the clear language of the federal Clean Air Act, which requires each power plant to install the best technology available to reduce mercury emissions by as much as 90 percent.

The utility industry and the Bush administration asked the Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision. ADK joined with health and environmental organization and several states in filing a brief asking the high court to allow the ruling to stand. 

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