New EPA standards may raise your power bill

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The Environmental protection Agency is about to release new air quality standards that could have a dramatic impact on Central Florida, and are likely to increase your power bill.   The University of Central Florida's Dr. David Cooper is the area's foremost expert on air quality. I asked the Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering if Central Florida would pass the proposed new standards.

"We might not. The new standards are going to be very tight, and our current ozone are very close to the old standard right now. We're hovering just below the old standard."

The two biggest pollutants in Central Florida currently are cars on the road, and smoke from coal fired power plants. Congressman Dan Webster wants the EPA to back off for now, saying more research and a compromise is needed. He believes jobs will be lost.

"I think the EPA is doing too much too quickly," said Rep. Webster, R-Winter Garden. "That's it, that's the bottiom line."

New standards would make it much more expensive for power companies to use coal, and those costs would be passed on to consumers. Congressman Webster cited the Heritage Foundation.

"We would see a 23 percent increase in our utility bills. Not only that, but it kills jobs. I think there was an independent study done that says about 1.4 million jobs over the next 120 years would be lost."

Dr. Cooper believes 23 percent is too high. He does not believe power bills will go up quite that much, and says better air is better for all of us.

"Good air quality means good health for people. We have elderly people, we have people with asthma. The ozone is very tough on those people, but good air quality also means a good economy. People will want to come to Central Florida."

What may really make you turn your head about these new standards that could be imposed on Central Florida any day now is that our air today is actually cleaner than it was just 5 years ago.