PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 24, 2004

Contact:  Michael Hamilton, 780-4190

LEGAL RIGHT TO EMIT 14,000 POUNDS OF AIR POLLUTION PURCHASED

ACID RAIN RETIREMENT FUND

P.O. Box 10272

Portland, Maine 04104

The Acid Rain Retirement Fund was a successful bidder for the right to emit 14,000 pounds of air pollution per year in the annual auction of sulfur dioxide emissions allowances conducted March 22, 2004 by the Chicago Board of Trade.  With their bid of $300.00 per ton, A.R.R.F. purchased the legal right to emit 7 tons of sulfur dioxide in 2004 and every year thereafter. 

Maine is downwind of the 105 dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the U.S., most of which are located in the Ohio River Valley.  One is in New Hampshire, five in New York, 21 in Pennsylvania.  They pollute so much they’re listed by name in the Clean Air Act of 1990.

Along with allowances purchased in prior years, A.R.R.F. now owns the right to emit 186,000 pounds (93 tons) of sulfur dioxide per year, plus whatever amount it has not emitted in previous years.  This may not sound like much, unless one considers that one ton of sulfur dioxide makes enough acid rain to kill any lake in Maine. 

Because A.R.R.F. did not exercise its right to emit any pollution during 1996-2003, “banking” its emissions allowances for the future, A.R.R.F. now holds the legal right to emit a total of 926,000 pounds--or 463 tons--of sulfur dioxide in 2004.  Because it does not use its rights, the air we breathe will be cleaner by that amount.  In 2005, the allowances A.R.R.F. already owns will be worth more than 1 million pounds of air pollution.

Each year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency auctions off to the highest bidder about 250,000 pollution allowances that enable companies to emit one ton of sulfur dioxide.  A non-profit, all-volunteer, community educational group, the Acid Rain Retirement Fund raises money and bids alongside polluters for as many allowances as their funds can buy.  But instead of using or trading them, A.R.R.F. retires them permanently, taking allowances off the market and keeping sulfur dioxide out of the air. 

Examination of EPA Auction results 1993‑2004 indicates “groups or individuals like A.R.R.F. who purchased emissions allowances for purposes other than releasing air pollution now own the right to emit 1,168 tons,” according to Michael Hamilton, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern Maine.  Although most have purchased only one or a few tons, this adds up to considerably more than the 720 tons/year given by law to the Miami Fort #5 generating unit in Ohio.

Since many purchases were made in earlier years, and unused allowances have accumulated, these groups now own the right to emit 9,195 tons of sulfur dioxide in 2004.  This is more than the annual allocation of allowances to 68 of the 105 dirtiest generating units in the United States, 22 more than last year.  This means “someday one of these plants will need emissions allowances owned by someone like A.R.R.F. who won’t sell them, and they’ll have to clean up their pollution,” according to Hamilton.

Sulfur dioxide is the principal contributor to acid rain that falls on Maine, causing respiratory disorders, impairing visibility, harming the health of fish and wildlife, and degrading Maine lakes.  Acid rain brings with it mercury deposition, and together they cause tremendous damage to our health and environment in Maine.  People are warned not to eat more than a little fish taken from lakes and streams in Maine, due to unhealthy levels of mercury contaminiation.  Recent research at the University of Maine shows lakes and streams in New England have been slow to recover from the effect of acid rain, compared to some in Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.

Many lakes in Maine are affected by acid precipitation.  Rain is considered abnormally acidic when it has a pH below 5.0, and lakes are considered acidified with a pH of less than 5.5.  According to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, about 100 lakes in Maine have pH lower than 5.5.  They say about half these lakes are naturally acidic, the other half caused by acid rain.

The pH of rain and snow in Maine varies between 3.9 and 5.0.  The pH of precipitation recorded in December 2001 was 4.6 at Acadia National Park, 4.5 at Bridgeton, 4.7 at Caribou, and 4.5 at Greenville.  "These readings indicate abnormal acidification" according to Hamilton.  A measurement of 4.5 pH is ten times more acidic than 5.5pH, which is the normal pH of rainfall.

On March 22, 2004 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sold allowances to emit 125,011 tons of sulfur dioxide first usable in 2004 in its “spot auction.”  The highest successful bid was for $300.00/ton.  American Electric Power Co., which operates several of the dirtiest coal-fired plants in the Ohio River Valley, purchased 59.99% of the spot auction allowances.  The lowest successful bid was $260/ton, considerably more than the lowest spot auction bid in 2003, which was about $171/ton.

Another 125,000 tons worth of allowances first usable in 2011 were auctioned off for $128-129/ton to two bidders.  American Electric Power Co. purchased 99.96% of these advance-auction allowances at $128/ton, about $40/ton more than one year ago.  Apparently American Electric Power Co. plans to continue significant sulfur dioxide emissions in excess of their statutory allowances for many years in the future.  In total, over $50.1 million was spent on emissions allowances in these two auctions. 

The Acid Rain Retirement Fund uses participation in pollution markets as a way to educate children and adults about the sources and detrimental affects of air pollution and acid rain, and actions people can take to reduce such pollution. This year, A.R.R.F. purchased emissions allowances with funds donated by folks in Maine and from all over the U.S., including sixth graders at South Kortright Central School in South Kortright, NY, and Jesuit High School in New Orleans, LA.

For more information, visit the A.R.R.F. website at http://www.usm.maine.edu/~pos/arrf.htm or write:  Acid Rain Retirement Fund, P.O. Box 10272, Portland, ME 04104, or call Michael Hamilton at 780-4190. 

Official EPA Auction results can be viewed at http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/auctions.