but but but..they told us deregulation was a good thing, they wouldn't lie, right?

June 20, 2002

Many enviros have suspected for a while that the deregulation of

electricity markets is bad for the environment. Now here's some

proof: Spending on energy efficiency programs by North American

power companies -- the biggest polluters on the continent -- dropped

by 42 percent between 1995 and 1999, largely because of deregulation.

The findings were made public this week in a report by the Commission

for Environmental Cooperation, a Montreal-based agency created under

the North American Free Trade Agreement. The drop in spending, from

$2.4 billion to $1.4 billion, led to increased air pollution in the

U.S., Canada, and Mexico, affecting both human and environmental

health. Janine Ferretti, executive director of the commission, said

deregulation offers utilities fewer incentives to implement

conservation measures. The report came just two days after President

Bush announced that he would relax rules requiring utilities to

install state-of-the-art pollution-control equipment when repairing

or expanding power plants, a move that triggered a storm of protest

from environmental groups.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Robert Melnbardis, 19 Jun 2002

only in Grist: Alternative energy crisis -- when it comes to

renewable energy, the DOE is DOA -- by Amanda Griscom in our Powers

That Be section

do good: Take action to do a home energy audit

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