As we all know, there is a national movement toward deregulation in the electricity industry. In fact, a significant number of states have already begun to deregulate their utilities; my home state, Connecticut, passed legislation in 1998 that begins the process of our own state deregulation.
This time of transition is a good time to take stock of where we are as a country with power provision and power plant pollution. The fact is that too many of our utilities remain major polluters. Twenty-four percent of industrial NOx emissions and 66% of industrial SO2 emissions come from utilities, 32% of mercury and 40% of CO2 come from the power sector. In addition to this, almost 80% of the emissions I just described come from coal-fired power plants that were installed prior to 1977. These pollutants contribute to serious environmental problems such as smog, acid rain, climate change, and equally serious public health problems such as respiratory illnesses and contamination of fish and other wildlife.
In the face of these threats, many utilities have recently to realize that we need to enact legislation to address this problem and regulate these pollutants, all four of them. I am heartened by industry's evolving commitment to such reductions. The question now is how to most effectively and efficiently craft legislation to this end.
My perspectives on this problem are reflected in the Clean Energy Act of 1999, that Senator Jeffords and I introduced last year. Legislation should put forth concrete caps for all four pollutants NOx, SO2, mercury, and CO2 for reductions over the short term; our legislation happens to specify the date of 2005. I also believe strongly that we need to enact reduction levels that are adequate to protect human health and the environment. Our bill would close a loophole in the Clean Air Act that exempts older power plants from rigorous environmental standards. To ensure fairness in an era of increasing competitiveness, we must strengthen pollution controls so that older, dirtier power plants don't gain an unfair share of the market while polluting at higher rates than newer, cleaner, more efficient utilities.
The good news is that with the technologies available today, pollution reductions are very much within our reach. Sulfur emissions can be curbed by lower sulfur coal use and flue gas desulfurization, or scrubbers; nitrogen oxides can be reduced by using selective catalytic and non-catalytic reduction and by using natural gas instead of coal; reduction in mercury can be effected through the use of add-on controls and natural gas; and CO2 can also be curbed with the use of natural gas. These are all promising technologies and with their implementation and the continued leadership of the industry, I believe we can make the needed progress.
I look forward to the discussion today and hope that we can continue to move together toward an agreement on the best way to craft the most effective legislation possible. Thank you.