Sulfur Dioxide

03/27/2008 -- On March 25, 2008, EPA held the acid rain auction giving private citizens, brokers and power plants the opportunity to buy and sell sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowances, as part of the cap and trade program to reduce acid rain. When fully implemented in 2010, the Acid Rain Program will have cut SO2 emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels.

The national emissions cap and SO2 allowance trading work to create one of the most successful environmental programs to date. Each allowance is equivalent to one ton of acid rain-causing SO2, emitted from power plants. The Acid Rain Program uses a market-driven cap-and-trade system to cut SO2 emissions from power plants.    » read more »

After Eight-Year Battle, American Electric Power Agrees to Major Power Plant Upgrades, Pollution Reductions, Environmental Improvements

CHICAGO (October 9, 2007) -- The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 8 states, and 12 other environmental organizations, reached a history-making settlement with American Electric Power (AEP) today after a nearly decade-old battle over AEP’s violations of the Clean Air Act’s “New Source Review” requirements.    » read more »

Major Utility Agrees to Spend Over $4.5 Billion to Clean Up Coal Plants

October 09, 2007 -- Washington DC: In a huge victory for public health, energy giant American Electric Power agreed today to markedly reduce hazardous air pollution from dozens of its coal-fired power plants- dramatically improving air quality and reducing health risks to neighboring communities. After almost eight years of refusing to clean up its dirtiest plants, AEP has agreed to cut its nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions- pollutants which cause smog and acid rain- by hundreds of thousands of tons.    » read more »

10/09/2007 -- WASHINGTON D.C - John Kerry made the following statement today, after a federal court ruled that the Clean Air Act mandates American Electric Power to dramatically reduce emissions and clean up the damage caused by historical emissions from five power plants. Pollution from plants located in the Ohio River Valley and Appalachia impacted air, water and wildlife in northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States. The court ruled that the company must cut emissions by more than two-thirds over the next decade.    » read more »

October 9, 2007 -- "I am gratified by today’s announcement that one of New York’s major environmental lawsuits, filed in federal court in 1999, has been settled. Groundbreaking cases like these against the country’s major polluters demonstrate how the states can provide important leadership on environmental issues and play a significant role in the effort to reduce acid rain, smog and respiratory disease.    » read more »

American Electric Power To Invest Nearly $5 Billion To Dramatically Cut Emissions At 16 Major Coal-Fired Power Plants; Company Will Pay Additional $75 Million For Clean Air Enforcement

NEW YORK, NY (October 9, 2007) – New York Attorney General Andrew M.    » read more »

October 9, 2007 -- New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte and Thomas S. Burack, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (“DES”), announced today that New Hampshire has joined with the federal government, states and environmental groups in recommending court approval of a settlement of Clean Air Act violations that will result in the largest emissions reductions in history with one of the nation’s largest utilities, American Electric Power, Inc. (“AEP”).    » read more »