Despite industry pressure, EPA finalized a rule July 6 that will achieve billions of dollars in public health benefits. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) requires over 20 states to reduce power plant emissions of air pollutants that contribute to ozone and fine particle pollution in other states. The rule will prevent 13,000 to 34,000 premature deaths, 15,000 nonfatal heart attacks, and 400,000 aggravated asthma attacks per year by 2014.

Environmental standards finalized under the Obama administration are expected to yield extraordinary benefits while imposing relatively small costs on businesses, according to a new paper by the Economic Policy Institute. “The combined annual benefits from all final rules exceed their costs by $32 billion to $142 billion a year,” the paper, Tallying up the Impact of New EPA Rules, concludes.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was on the Daily Show last night giving an impassioned defense of public health, the environment, and regulatory safeguards. Despite some recent disappointments from the EPA surrounding boiler emissions and coal ash, Jackson came across as a committed public servant and argued against some of the ridiculous attacks on public protections.