A new report from New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services finds that out of state pollution is costing Granite State taxpayers.
New Hampshire Public Radio's David Darman has more.
The Department of Environmental Services has found that more than 90 percent of New Hampshire's pollution comes from out of state.
And Governor Craig Benson wrote in the introduction to the report that this pollution costs New Hampshire 1 billion dollars a year.
we believe that we have been put in an unfair situation and we are looking to see if we can't change some of the things regarding the state of nh... how its been classified based on our neighbors haven't done as much to clean up the air as we have done here in nh.
And because states to the south and west haven’t done as much to clear the air, New Hampshire residents have to spend more on healthcare.
Those higher health care costs add up to higher health insurance premiums for New Hampshire businesses.
But health care is only the most obvious cost to Granite Staters.
Bob Scott of New Hampshire DES says local power plants in the state have taken great pains to to reduce pollution.
That drives up electric rates, for businesses and residential consumers.
Scott says these costs are not borne by companies in other states.
when you look at pollution coming from outside the state our sources by and large have placed controls on themselves worked with us that's caused an unfair burden, as far as economic benefit for the state and unfair burden as far as competition with other state industries.
The Governor and other state officials say they're looking to Washington for tighter controls on interstate pollution.
But they've been disappointed with President Bush.
Last year the Bush Administration proposed allowing power plants to make upgrades without installing additional pollution controls.
New Hampshire and 17 other states went to court to block that plan from going into effect.
State officials say they did that because the President's Clear Skies Act would have prevented New Hampshire from protecting itself from upwind pollution.
And the Benson Administration says those restrictions violate states
rights.
A federal appeals court agreed.
Last December, the court blocked the Bush plan.
Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency say the EPA is moving forward with regulations to cut pollution that travels to New England.
David Conroy is with the EPA in Boston.
the rules are in effect. power plants sort of have a certain amount of pollution they can emit this summer and they've installed controls accordingly to make sure they stay below those caps on emissions.
Congress is considering three plans to cut levels of interstate pollution.
One of the plans is supported by Senator Gregg and Congressman Bass.
State officials say that plan would cut pollution and save money currently spent on healthcare.
They say the President's Clear Skies Initiative comes up short in both areas.
