Changing clean air regulations for power plants

Although the nation is not yet in compliance with existing clean air legislation and regulatory requirements, new clean air bills are before the Congress. Their provisions range from relatively mild to sweeping and complex. They are accompanied by a welter of studies and reports, extensive hearings, hot controversies, and massive new uncertainties about the costs and consequences of the inevitable new regulations, especially for power plants. Key to the controversies is the fact that mechanistic links between emissions and postulated effects on health and environment have not been demonstrated; hence, satisfactory cost/benefit studies are lacking. Nonetheless, it is commonly said that it is a political necessity for this Congress to enact significant new clean air legislation.