An F is not a good score on a test or a report card, and likewise, York County receiving an F for ozone pollution in an air quality report from the American Lung Association of the North East is not good news.

The grade the southernmost county received for ozone levels in the “State of the Air 2015” does not reflect the state as a whole. The coastal counties of Cumberland, Knox and Hancock all received Cs for Ozone pollution levels, while other counties measured receiving As and Bs.

In part, because of the low marks on ozone leves in parts of Maine Beth Ahearn, policy director with the Maine Conservation Alliance, hopes the president’s Clean Power plan released in August will have smooth sailing.

She said that much of the pollutants that come into York County are brought in by the wind patterns blowing carbon omissions in coal power plants in the Midwest.

Maine itself no longer has any coal power plants.

Power plants in the United States emit more than 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year, about 40 percent of the nation’s total emissions, said Ahearn.

The federal government currently sets limits on mercury, arsenic, soot and other toxic pollution from power plants, but there are no federal limits on carbon pollution, said Ahearn.

High levels of ozone can cause serious health risks, including asthma and other respiratory problems, said Dr. Marguerite Pennoyer, a Scarborough allergy, asthma and immunology physician. Maine has one of the highest rates of asthma in the country, she said.

Ahearn and Pennoyer are proponents of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan, which would enforce the first ever national standards to limit carbon pollution from power plants.

“In many ways, the Clean Power Plan is about leveling the playing field. It’s about making sure that Maine people don’t pay the price for cheap power produced elsewhere,” said Pennoyer.

The Clean Power Plan would require states to reduce nationwide carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. States would be required to come up with a plan by September 2016, but states that need more time could come with an initial plan by September 2016 and get up to a twoyear extension, according to a press release from the White House.

The American coal industry said it’s getting a bad rap.

Jason Hayes, associate director if the American Coal Council said the American coal industry is being wrongly blamed as the biggest culprit of ozone pollution in the country because coal is an easy political target.

Hayes said the coal industry in the United States between 1970 and the end of this year will have spent $136 billion on emission reduction, and will spend another billion within the next five years.

In the past 45 years, he said, the coal industry in this country has reduced emissions in three criteria by almost 90 percent.

If any other industry in the United States had done this amount of work to reduce emissions, it would be praised, said Hayes.

Rather than from the U.S., he said, pollutants are being blown in from coal-powered plants from other countries, like China and Canada. China is a large consumer of coal, said Hayes, and emission-reducing technology is not always used on coal power plants in that country.

The Clean Power Plan also has some in-state critics.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin said in a prepared statement that while he believes it’s important to protect the environment, he is worried the proposed Clean Power Plan is “too far overreaching” and harmful to Maine businesses and workers.

“Over-regulation and poor government policies have led to higher energy prices for families in Maine and increased risk to our national security,” he said. Too many of the state’s paper mills closed because the high cost of energy has made it hard to compete, resulting in the loss of jobs.

However, Ahearn said the Clean Power Plan could lead to new jobs. She said implementation of the plan will create energy efficient jobs in Maine and across the country

And, she added, as the country moves toward using more energy-efficient practices and cleaner energy sources, people will save money on energy costs. The EPA estimates the Clean Power Plan would cut the average American’s monthly electricity bill by seven percent in 2030, according to a memo from the Maine Conservation Alliance.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext.325 or egotthelf@ journaltribunecom.