Study Ranks Bush Plan to Cut Air Pollution as Weakest of 3

The New York Times > Washington: "At the invitation of the environmental coalition Clear the Air, the international research firm Abt Associates, which often conducts studies for the Environmental Protection Agency, used the same methodology in assessing all three. It found that the administration's plan, called the Clear Skies Act, would save as many as 14,000 lives but that the other bills would save more - 16,000 in one case and 22,000 in the other.

But officials from Clear the Air said the report provided evidence that the administration's approach to curbing emissions from power plants did not do enough soon enough, and in the process, saved power companies from spending huge sums on technologies that would reduce emissions.

They predicted that the analysis could become part of the presidential campaign. The report said that under current policies, nearly 24,000 people died each year as a result of power plant emissions, with the largest numbers in three closely contested states, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. "