Snap Fact #230 - Obama’s Administration Finalizes Life-Saving Mercury and Air Toxics Standards!

Existing pollution sources generally will have up to 4 years, if they need it, to comply with the new standards. At a press conference in Washington, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the regulation was the Obama administration's "biggest clean-air action yet," trumping a landmark agreement to double fuel-economy standards for vehicles and another rule that will reduce emissions from power plants that foul the air in states downwind. 

According to EPA estimates, the new safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year. The standards will also help America’s children grow up healthier – preventing 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and about 6,300 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children each year.